Rotherham 1 Shrewsbury 1 - match report

Shrewsbury Town left Rotherham with a creditable point, but accompanied by concern and frustration in equal measures.

The concern surrounded a fresh, sickening twist to the injury-plagued opening to Craig Disley's Town career.

One of three midfielders left out of the starting line-up last night, Disley would have harboured hopes of helping inspire Shrewsbury to what would have proved a critical winner when he was called upon with 15 minutes remaining.

Instead his torrid luck continued as Disley's boot got caught in the worst playing surface League Two has to offer, leaving the luckless former Bristol Rovers man having to wait anxiously until today to learn if the ankle injury he suffered was as serious as first feared.

As for the frustration, that was borne out of Shrewsbury failing to convert their undoubted supremacy - which at times verged on domination during the final hour of this contest - into a fourth successive victory over Rotherham.

In different circumstances, manager Paul Simpson may well have been satisfied with a share of the spoils on another bone-chilling evening, particularly after falling behind to an early disputed penalty.

But the Shrewsbury boss was clearly agitated after the type of missed opportunity his side can ill afford as they attempt to play catch-up in the race for the automatic promotion slots.

All at sea for the opening 20 minutes, Shrewsbury went on to launch wave after wave of attack as they controlled proceedings.

But, for all they monopolised possession, territory and the goal-scoring opportunities in the second period, they couldn't build on Steve Leslie's leveller on the stroke of half-time.

"We are all really gutted," admitted David Button, whose goal was peppered with five Rotherham shots in the opening 14 minutes but wasn't forced into a save after that.

"We feel we should have taken all three points, but we have to take the positives - it was a fantastic performance.

"I was actually getting a bit cold for the last hour because I wasn't touching the ball and it's just a shame we couldn't take one of our chances."

For the second time in four nights, Shrewsbury were forced to digest a debatable penalty award against them.

Just as Kevin McIntyre was furious at being penalised for his 'tackle' on Stephen Dawson at Bury on Friday, so Graham Coughlan was incandescent with rage after he was adjudged to have brought down Adam Le Fondre on 12 minutes.

Contact seemed at an absolute minimum and Shrewsbury's understandable feeling of injustice was only heightened by Le Fondre scoring from the spot.

Truth be told, Town could have no complaints at having to play catch-up after a ragged start saw Rotherham dominate the early stages.

Button was twice forced to save sharply while Shane Cansdell-Sherriff hooked a Le Fondre shot off the line in one frantic goalmouth scramble, while Kevin Ellison and Gavin Gunning both went close from distance.

But gradually Shrewsbury settled into life in front of the television cameras and Rotherham's performance came increasingly dysfunctional.

And that set the pattern for the remainder of the night as Town launched a sustained assault on the Rotherham goal.

By half-time, Dave Hibbert had already been denied by Rotherham goalkeeper Andy Warrington.

And they deserved their 45th minute leveller when Steve Leslie slotted home a follow-up after Warrington had parried away a 25-yard effort from Paul Murray.

Despite attacking the worst affected half of a cut-up pitch after the break, the domination Town had built up before half-time continued.

Warrington was in supreme form to pull off two outstanding saves to deny Hibbert and Leslie while Cansdell-Sherriff was only fractionally wide with a header.

Despite Disley's injury, Shrewsbury continued to plug away in search of the winner and there was clear frustration from Simpson when Leslie opted for precision rather than power with an injury time free-kick from just outside the box.

It was a night when Shrewsbury could, and should, have travelled back down the M1 with more than a solitary point.