Aldershot's Oliver Bozanic opens the scoring

Shrewsbury Town will spend this week having to contemplate a worrying three-point gap which separates them from the play-off places.

And if recent evidence is anything to go by, a top seven finish appears as far away for Paul Simpson’s side as it has been at any point of the season so far.

Town still have sufficient time – nine games to be precise – to turn around a campaign which, just at present, is threatening to get away from them.

After all, it was a late burst last season which took Town within 90 minutes of the ultimate prize of League One football.

But they will have to display a massive improvement on their performances in what has so far been a miserable March if they are to be amongst the winners in what is fast becoming a frantic scramble for the four play-off places.

Comprehensively out-classed by Rochdale seven days previously, it got little better for Shrewsbury at Aldershot on Saturday.

Their Hampshire hosts didn’t possess anywhere near the fluency and class of Keith Hill’s table-toppers, but still had more than enough in the tank to run out comfortable winners.

It was a day when Town were toothless as an attacking force, to the extent they couldn’t muster a single shot on target.

Throw in the fact that the knack of keeping clean sheets has deserted Shrewsbury’s defence and Simpson is left pondering an unenviable dual problem heading into the most important period of the campaign.

Once again, the absenceP of leading scorer Dave Hibbert was all too evident.

Simpson’s solution to that problem was to employ Kris Bright as a lone striker with Steve Leslie in close support.

But, while some of Bright’s hold-up play was acceptable, Shrewsbury simply couldn’t retain the ball long enough in the final third to sustain any pressure on Aldershot.

“We didn’t have any spark,” said Simpson.

“We gave ourselves problems with not being positive with our forward balls, in the first half in particular.

“It was as if we were just waiting for something to go against us to spark us into life.

“We helped them along. It’s never an easy place to come but I don’t think we did enough to test them out and push them.”

The early tempo set by Aldershot, and it was no surprise to see them break the deadlock shortly before the half hour.

Town’s defence failed to clear a low cross from Anthony Straker and Ollie Bozanic, on loan from Reading, was on hand to slot home from 15 yards out.

It was a goal the home side had been threatening and they never looked like relinquishing the advantage on a pudding of a pitch soaked by downpours both before and during the encounter.

That almost proved costly to Joe Skarz as his attempted backpass to David Button just before half-time was stopped in its tracks by a puddle, only for the Town goalkeeper to save well from Marlon Jackson in a one-on-one.

Shrewsbury’s only real sight of goal came just before the interval when Leslie dragged a shot wide, but their hopes of a comeback were dented in the 75th minute when a rather subdued second period was brought to life by Aldershot’s second goal.

Morgan received a pass in to his feet from Straker and he turned Graham Coughlan on the edge of the box before rifling an unstoppable shot past Button.

It could have got worse for Shrewsbury late on with Bright heading a Chris Blackburn header off the line and Ben Herd, typically assured at right back, rifling a 30-yard piledriver straight at Button.

Jamie Cureton and the lively Jake Robinson were both thrown into the fray in the closing stages but to no avail as the visitors’ struggles continued to the final whistle.

It all added up to another major setback to Town’s promotion chase, one they simply must bounce back from against doomed Darlington at the Prostar next weekend.

By James Garrison