Shrewsbury Town must this week answer an SOS call.

And their ‘Save Our Season’ night on Friday will leave Graham Turner’s side with little margin for error.

A second deflating experience in the space of two months on the English Riverra has left Town with 90 minutes to keep their promotion dream flickering.

The scale of Saturday’s defeat wasn’t as dramatic as the 5-0 hammering inflicted by Torquay exactly nine weeks previous.

But the 2-0 reverse against a side they finished 11 points above in the table has placed into jeopardy whether a season which will fondly be remembered will have the happy ending of promotion.

The main positive Shrewsbury could glean from Saturday night as they dejectedly trawled back up the M5 was that life remains in this play-off semi-final.

On the balance of play and weight of chances, Torquay could have rendered Friday’s second leg meaningless by opening up what would surely have been an unassailable four or five goal advantage.

As it is, hope springs eternal.

Shrewsbury must – and will – believe they can deliver the Greenhous Meadow’s most dramatic night yet.

And there is no doubt a sense of optimism and hope will flood through a bumper and expectant crowd if they can halve the deficit with the first goal on Friday night.

Town will, however, have to improve significantly on their efforts on Saturday to have a realistic chance of extending their season to Old Trafford.

And,they will have to do so without their inspiring captain. Just how influential Ian Sharps is to this Shrewsbury team was clear to see on Saturday night.

While the skipper was on the pitch directing proceedings, Town were matching their hosts.

But uncertainty gripped the visitors from the moment Sharps departed with a thigh and groin problem which had provided an underlying concern behind the scenes all week.

That Torquay’s two goals should follow in the immediate aftermath of the 24th minute departure of Sharps only emphasised just what his presence means.

The first was to arrive on 28 when Sharps’ replacement Niall Canavan, still finding his feet in the biggest game of his short career, was pipped to a long ball by Gavin Tomlin.

He pulled the ball back to Chris Zebroski who beat Ben Smith with the aid of a slight deflection.

It was the first goal Shrewsbury had conceded in more than nine hours of football and a second was to follow on the stroke of half-time.

An unconvincing header from Shane Cansdell-Sherriff invited pressure, and the visitors were then guilty of giving midfielder Eunan O’Kane too much space to take aim with his 20 yard shot, while Smith may have been disappointed to have been beaten at his near post.

It could have got worse for Shrewsbury.

On a night when Jake Robinson hit three efforts from distance fractionally wide against his parent club, Smith saved well from a Kevin Nicholson free-kick and a Tomlin piledriver to prevent further damage.

Veteran defender Guy Branston fired a free header just over the bar while Town substitute Tom Bradshaw hacked a stab from Tomlin off the line.

At the other end, Town did have their moments.

During those encouraging early stages, James Collins twice had edge of the box efforts.

And David Davis should have hit the target from the edge of the box when Bevan lost his bearings after fluffing a kick under pressure from Jon Taylor.

But a lacklustre second half display produced little in the way of attacking output from Shrewsbury, whose only half chance came with a speculative Tom Bradshaw effort which dipped too late.

All of which has left Town with a mountain to climb on Friday night.

Twice in the last five years – at MK Dons and Bury – Shrewsbury have progressed against the odds in the second leg.

All is not lost – but it will take a special effort to complete a hat-trick.

Match analysis by James Garrison