Shrewsbury Town 3 Burton Albion 0 - match report

For Jon Taylor, it was the biggest night of his fledgling football career.

For Shrewsbury Town, it was one of the most important victories of their fluctuating League Two campaign.

By marking his full Football League debut with a brace of goals, 18-year-old Taylor played a vital part in a confidence restoring success for Graham Turner's side over Burton.

This being only their third victory in 13 league attempts, it would be slightly premature to view this as a turning point in Town's season.

But it is certainly a start - and an encouraging one at that coming just 24 hours after the wind of change swept through the Greenhous Meadow.

Due to the majority of the six late January deals concluded by Turner coming after the deadline for last night's encounter, only two of the new arrivals were on show.

Both left a lasting impression,

Jermaine Grandison celebrated converting his loan stay from Coventry into a permanent deal with another eye-catching display at right-back.

Defensively reliable, Grandison's pace, power and confidence on the ball also makes him a genuine threat as he marauds forward.

And there was also to be a highly intelligent display from Wolves loanee midfielder David Davis, who combined a crispness in the tackle with an impressive range of passing to suggest his loan period will be beneficial to Town's promotion chances.

The two newcomers were to be challenged for top billing by 18-year-old Taylor who flushed out early nerves to deliver a polished second half display on his first start in the league.

And a player whose enthusiasm knows no bounds may have to wait a little while to better his first goal in senior football, drilling a 20-yard effort into the bottom corner after Ian Sharps laid off a Mat Sadler cross five minutes before the hour.

If his opening strike was about precision, his second contained its share of fortune as he harried Burton's defence into an error, Russell Penn's attempted clearance ricocheting in off the diminutive winger on 70 minutes.

The recalled Matt Harrold was to seal the points three minutes later, producing a neat turn and shot from the edge of the box.

While Shrewsbury were to control the second period, they were forced to ride their luck at times in the first.

Capitalising on an edgy Town display during the opening 45 minutes, Burton were to have their opportunities to break the deadlock.

But they found goalkeeper Ben Smith in fine shot-stopping form as he produced impressive saves from one-time Town target Calvin Zola, Gregg Pearson and Adam Bolder.

Kevin McIntyre was also to clear an effort off the line while the visitors correctly had two efforts ruled out for infringements in the build-up.

But Burton's threat faded after the break and Shrewsbury rediscovered their confidence and poise to cruise over the line.

By JAMES GARRISON