Shrewsbury Town manager Paul Simpson showered praise on Market Drayton Town after the Midland Alliance part-timers took the League Two title favourites to the brink.
Drayton twice took the lead through Stuart Ellis in a dramatic Shropshire Senior Cup semi-final at the Prostar Stadium last night.
Both those goals were cancelled out by Grant Holt strikes, before substitute Michael Symes broke north Shropshire hearts with a winner in the third minute of injury time to seal a 3-2 Town triumph.
Simpson acknowledged his team were short of their best - but paid tribute to Drayton.
“You have to give a helluva lot of credit to Market Drayton, not only for sticking at the game but also playing some decent football and putting some quality in from set pieces. The first goal was a fantastic finish from the lad,” said Simpson.
“It was a tough night for us but we won the game. I said to the players, in the other pre-season games, the result doesn’t really matter but it did last night.
“There were a lot of things not quite right but that is what pre-season is for.
“Everything has been spot on since we have come back from pre-season. Last night was a little blip and we have probably got away with it a bit.”
Drayton manager Simon Line was thrilled with his squad’s efforts.
“It doesn’t get much harder to take than losing to a 93rd minute goal but I’m so proud of the boys,” he said.
“Everyone’s disappointed because we were just starting to think about our penalty order but it’s been a great work-out for us and we won’t meet that quality of team in the Midland Alliance.”
2 Comments
A bit of a reality check for Salop and well done to Drayton. Not sure quite how much the conditions influenced the game but good to see Holt and Symes scoring.
Couldn’t tell after 93 mins which team was the full time senior team. Yes, it was that close. I think the Shrewsbury management will understand the need to sharpen up in all departments. Drayton, on the other hand deserved to take it to penalties and well done to them. Perhaps some fresh legs towards the end might have pulled it off for them when one or two were visibly tiring in the extreme conditions.