Sam Gwyne of Hereford United and Omer Riza of Shrewsbury Town

A damp squib of a local derby blew off course Shrewsbury Town’s hopes of cementing their place amongst the League Two promotion chasers.

Swirling winds and driving rain made for miserable conditions at Edgar Street, and it proved a grim evening all round.

The visitors produced a performance packed with endeavour but were made to pay for an awful start in which they conceded twice in the opening half hour.

And, despite pulling a goal back on the stroke of half-time, the recent trend of a shortage of spark and creative ‘X Factor’ in the final third continued as Town huffed and puffed, but all too rarely called Hereford goalkeeper Adam Bartlett into action.

Shrewsbury slipped down to ninth position after a result which halted a four-match unbeaten run but now leaves Town with just one victory in their last eight League outings.

“We got beat because we didn’t start the game properly,” said Shrewsbury boss Paul Simpson.

“It drives me mad when we come in after a warm-up and everyone says how fantastic it was – then we start the game like that.

“We conceded a penalty early on but two or three times before that, we should have cleared our lines.

“To be a good side, you have to be able to start games properly and we didn’t do that.”

Town need not look beyond that opening third of the encounter to stumble upon the reasons why they returned back up the A49 empty-handed.

Despite having the elements and a slope in their favour, Shrewsbury failed to stamp their authority on the game early on and were – on occasions – all too easily opened by a Hereford side which displayed invention in the final third.

The opener took just four minutes to arrive, Ryan Valentine sending Andreas Arestidou the wrong way from the penalty spot after Kevin McIntyre had dived in on Kenny Lunt in the box.

It was to get worse. Lunt missed a golden opportunity to make it two when Town were again opened up all too easily moments later, before the second goal arrived on the half hour.

Gavin McCallum, a threat all night, played a one-two with Valentine before unleashing a shot.

Dean Holden attempted a headed clearance but it returned to McCallum who slotted home the rebound coolly from 12 yards.

The visitors enjoyed plenty of territory in the opening period but clear chances remained at a premium, Dean Holden and Jamie Devitt both going close but having to rely on shots from distance.

Delivery into the box was well below par for much of the first half, but that changed on the stroke of half-time when a McIntyre corner was turned home by Waide Fairhurst, who shrugged off his marker amid a mass goalmouth scramble.

Goal opportunities at both ends remained few and far between after the break, with Hibbert flashing just wide for Shrewsbury and Arestidou called into only routine saves.

There was to prove one final hope for Town as McIntyre’s late corner was only half cleared and substitute Omer Riza’s 15 yard shot was cleared off the line by Lunt.

Hereford survived five minutes of injury time to secure an important win.

While Town remain handily placed just one point off the play-offs, they are facing up to issues at both ends of the pitch.

For the time being at least, clean sheets have disappeared from Town’s DNA and more than two months have now passed since the last shut-out.

And Simpson’s side are also battling to create their own goal-scoring opportunities in the opposition’s final third. There is plenty to ponder in Shrewsbury’s week of inactivity.

By James Garrison