Source: FOOTYMAD
Away Days - Shrewsbury Town
A report on a trip to the Prostar Stadium In the middle of what seemed to be a Shropshire hurricane Notts were able to overcome the task of beating play-off hopefuls Shrewsbury Town. The Shrews hadn't won in 5; whilst County hadn't lost in 11 games. The stadium had echoes of Rushden & Diamonds' soulless, generic Lego stadium. The Shrews fans concentrated their minimal brain capacity on insulting the County players and fans alike for the duration of the 90 minutes instead of getting behind their team so the 'worst fans of the season' award has swapped hands from Bury to Shrewsbury in the matter of a week. But in line with current form Notts were able to keep their 9th clean sheet in 10 games under Cotterill with a 1-0 win.Notts were unchanged from the side who hit Bury for 5 on Saturday. This meant that there was no starting place for Karl Hawley or Delroy Facey with the out-of-form Luke Rodgers keeping his place.The wind stopped any prospect of free-flowing football in its tracks and the game was a scrappy affair with neither team looking too aesthetically pleasing. A rasping volley from Simpson stung Kasper's palms with the Shrews best chance of the half. Notts soon grew into their own and but for the goalkeeping of Button, Notts may have been in front on 20 minutes, a Lee Hughes header troubled the Shrews defence with Button scrambling across his goal and turning the header around the post. Hughes came close again with a low shot that flew inches past the post prior to Neil Bishop having a shot that demanded another good save. The Notts goal came on 36 minutes from former Shrewsbury midfield dynamo Ben Davies, after good work from Westcarr down the left who managed to cut the ball across the box which was left when skillfully dummied by Luke Rodgers, before falling to Lee Hughes who rolled it into Ben Davies' path, who composed himself before blasting the ball past Button. The second half was a dire affair with the wind having the upper hand over either team. Notts persisted with the long ball but with the lwind against them, Shrewsbury were able to have sustained pressure with neither Hughes or Rodgers able to hold the ball up. Shrewsbury nearly pulled themselves level when an ambitious lob nearly caught Schmeichel out in the County goal, but fortunately for the Magpies the effort was just off target. Notts' best opportunity in the second half, again fell to Ben Davies but this time, Button was equal to the shot from 10 yards. Shrewsbury had neither the guile or quality to break down to the stern Notts defence; as Karl Hawley came on and helped Notts retain the ball better in the Shrews half. The 1-0 scoreline was a fair reflection on a close game played in awful conditions.Notts' dreams of pipping Rochdale to the title are becoming more and more like reality with every passing game. You pies!
