Harrogate 2 Shrewsbury 0 - Report
Shrewsbury Town lost for the sixth time in League Two this season as they were beaten by Harrogate.
Two second-half goals from the hosts were Town’s undoing as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 in the pouring rain.
Report
It was an awful day in North Yorkshire as Town played at the Exercise Stadium for the first time.
The hosts should have been ahead inside the first few moments when striker Jack Muldoon hit the post.
The ball had come in from the left from Ellis Taylor, and a combination of Will Boyle and Elyh Harrison stopped the first effort before his second hit the post as Salop then smuggled it away from danger.
Shrews wanted a penalty when it looked like there was a raised arm in the box. The players protested, but neither the referee nor the linesman believed a penalty was the right call.
Harrogate had more of the ball than Town in the first half, but Shrews had 10 shots to the home side’s four.
Despite that, Michael Appleton’s side had to wait until stoppage at the end of the first 45 minutes for their first real, clear-cut opportunity.
A corner was whipped in by Tom Sang, and Boyle found himself free in the six-yard box, but his header went over the bar.
Second half
Within minutes of the re-start, Sam Stubbs, who had looked like he had been limping during the first half, came off - he was replaced by Toto Nsiala.
Not long later, Tom Anderson picked up a calf injury and was replaced by Luca Hoole.
The second half went from bad to worse for Town as they trailed in the 66th minute. A long hopeful ball forward, and Nsiala lost his man.
Muldoon took the ball down before confidently firing beyond Harrison.
The Town boss made a triple substitution with just over 15 minutes to go. George Lloyd, John Marquis and Chuks Aneke coming on - the latter for his Town debut.
Elyh Harrison made an excellent save to deny Conor McAleny when the Harrogate substitute was played through on goal.
He did get his goal, though three minutes from time, when he shot from distance and found the bottom corner of Harrison’s net.
TEAMS
Harrogate: Belshaw, Slater, Evans, Burrell, Morris, Duke-McKenna, O’Connor, Muldoon (Bennett 81), Faulkner, Taylor (McAleny 74), Smith.
Subs: Oxley, Asare, Bradbury, McCoulsky, Sutton.
Shrewsbury: Harrison, Stubbs (Nsiala 50), Anderson (Hoole 60), Boyle, Clucas, Sang, McDermott, Perry (Marquis 74), England (Aneke 74), Ihionvien (Lloyd 74), Kabia.
Subs: Brook, Biggins.
