A word of advice for all Shrewsbury Town fans – if Sunday, April 5, 2009 is blank in your diary, it might be best to keep it that way.
For that could just be the day for another blue-and-amber invasion on Wembley.
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There is, of course, still plenty of obstacles to overcome before the Town vintage of 2008-9 can begin to contemplate a final in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and another landmark occasion in the club’s history.
But while Shrewsbury continue to make such seamless and stylish progress through the lower League knockout competition, that dream will well and truly remain intact.
Following on from Exeter and Wycombe, Dagenham & Redbridge were the latest team to find themselves on the receiving end of a Shrewsbury masterclass.
The 5-0 thumping of a team just three places and two points below them in League Two ensured Paul Simpson’s side are one of five southern section teams who can reach the final.
Luton, Colchester, Swindon and Brighton are the others and, while three higher graded outfits rank amongst that number, none will be too disappointed to avoid Shrewsbury in Saturday’s area semi-final draw.
Town are now four unbeaten and threatening to reach the type of consistent high-performance level their manager is seeking.
And one glance at Town’s record in the JPT will send out another warning to their rivals.
It’s now 14 goals scored and just one conceded in their three victories – and all against teams who sit alongside them in the top eight of League Two.
Shrewsbury were mesmerising in their third successive midweek game, the pace of Chris Humphrey, cleverness of Richard Walker and clinical finishing of Grant Holt particularly stand-out features on a night when the hosts rested Mike Jackson and Paul Murray and coped admirably in the absence of Ben Davies.
Particularly in the opening 30 minutes, Dagenham posed a threat to Glyn Garner’s goal from set pieces.
But Town increasingly came to grips with that danger and were, ultimately, deserving of a victory even greater than their ultimate five-goal margin.
It took just 13 minutes for the deadlock to be broken when Holt capitalised on a woefully short back pass from Magnus Okuonghae.
There remained work for the £170,000 striker to do, but the outcome was never in doubt as Holt expertly curled an effort around veteran goalkeeper Tony Roberts.
From that moment, Town’s attacking play carried a real purpose.
Steve Leslie struck home as sweet a left-foot volley as you are likely to see midway through the opening period after getting on the end of Humphrey’s first-time cross, one of three assists for the winger who enjoyed success each time he attacked Dagenham left-back Scott Griffiths on the outside.
Humphrey was again at the centre of the build-up for the third on the stroke of half-time, providing a pin-point cross for Holt to volley home his 13th goal of the season from close range.
Town’s control never threatened to weaken after the break, with two more goals putting the seal on another fine showing.
Walker’s immaculate link-up play was rewarded with a goal on 69 minutes with a deft chip over Roberts after Michael Symes and Humphrey had combined.
And there was still time for a fifth when Graham Coughlan was credited with heading home a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick from the narrowest of angles.
Leslie, Steve Hindmarch and Walker all went close as Town threatened to record the remarkable feat of scoring seven goals for the third time in a season.
But five will do just nicely, and Simpson will happily reflect on a night when it was nigh on impossible to identify a weak link.
By James Garrison
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