Grimsby 1 Shrewsbury 0: Year ends in heartbreak as Salop beaten again

Substitute Justin Amaluzor fired low beyond goalkeeper Will Brook with a little over five minutes to spare, on a night when Salop had their clear-cut chances but failed to put those openings away and paid the price late in the day as a result. This, their third defeat on the spin, leaves them very much looking over their shoulder as we reach 2026.

Preparations for tackling Grimsby prompted a change in personnel and system; Tom Sang returned to the starting XI in the place of the benched George Lloyd, and Michael Appleton opted to switch for a more traditional back four.

Town lived relatively dangerously in the opening stages, against a Grimsby side they'd shared the points with at the Croud Meadow earlier this month; Charles Vernam and Darragh Burns both tested Brook with efforts the Salop goalkeeper claimed comfortably, before Burns fired over from distance and Vernam, from the opposing wing, curled a daisy cutter through a crowd of bodies and beyond the far post.

The closest Salop themselves came in the opening exchanges was via a set-piece; centre halves Tom Anderson and Will Boyle both won their respective aerial duels in the penalty area and Tom Sang's rasping shot was denied by a well timed block.

The hosts rather dominated the ball for the entirety of the first half and continued to apply pressure to the Town defence for extensive spells without being able to force a breakthrough, and indeed it was Salop who ought to have headed down the tunnel at the break in front.

Taylor Perry won a turnover of possession in the middle of the pitch and drove forwards, eventually pulling the ball back into the penalty area where it fell kindly for Sang - but on his weaker foot. The winger could only plant the ball with his left boot into the home end behind the goal. There was just time for midfielder Jamie Walker to squeeze an effort round Brook's post but it remained goalless at the interval.

The game followed a familiar pattern almost instantly after the restart. Left-back Jayden Sweeney played a leading hand in a smart Grimsby move within two minutes of the second half commencing and Evan Khouri stooped to nod just wide of the far post.

Beyond that, though, Salop began to grow into the contest with an increasing belief they could nick a winner, while the score-line remained goalless; they actually enjoyed the better chances on offer, too.

Firstly, Grimsby's stand-in goalkeeper Jackson Smith pulled off an excellent reflex save when he clawed away John Marquis' header from Sang's superb cross. Moments later, Sang himself took the chance to shoot low at goal from the edge of the penalty area when a corner was only half cleared - via a deflection, he rattled the post with Smith caught out by the ricochet.

Those moments weren't falling right for Salop, and as a result they were always susceptible to a late sucker punch. It came with seven minutes to go, when Town failed to clear the danger building down their right hand side, the ball was crossed for lively substitute Amaluzor and he delivered the blow, slamming the ball low and hard beyond Brook.

For all of Town's good work in the first 80 minutes, chances passed up at the other end allowed the Mariners, who'd threatened without carving out too many notable chances, in at the death. All eyes now turn to what could prove to be a significant afternoon in the club's campaign, when they welcome fellow strugglers Bristol Rovers - themselves in rotten form - to Shropshire on New Year's Day.