Shropshire Star

Bernard McNally column: Peterborough win was just the tonic for Shrewsbury

Although it may not have kept their hopes of automatic promotion alive, due to Blackburn winning at Doncaster, Shrewsbury’s victory against Peterborough was hugely important.

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Getting back to winning ways, following three disappointing results in League One, was much needed.

They did well to beat Posh 3-1 as, being honest, the first half was very, very poor.

A lot of players underperformed and had the game ended then, you would have struggled to give any of the players more than 6/10.

The one bright spark was Abo Eisa, who is very direct and very, very pacy.

His sheer quickness frightens defenders but, with his lack of experience having only arrived from non-league Wealdstone in January, there were times where he was a bit naive – running into trouble, trying to do a bit too much and then getting surrounded by a few players.

The thing is, you don’t always have to beat a player with pace. You can do so with guile.

And if you’re that quick, you can run inside, play the ball to the central midfielder and then run into the space behind.

He’ll learn that. He is an exciting prospect, someone who should shine for Town over the next few years.

Peterborough, in the first half, had it pretty easy but as soon as Salop equalised through Omar Beckles, things changed.

The tables completely turned and Stefan Payne then kept his nerve to go in front – a very impressive finish – and we are all over them, Lenell John-Lewis wrapping it up.

Boss Paul Hurst and assistant Chris Doig seem to feel form ahead of the play-offs does not count for much, while a lot of fans want a nice run to cap off the regular season.

I would probably say I’m 50/50 there and I understand Paul’s sentiment – you want to hit your stride at the right time, not peak too early.

He has been giving a few players a bit of a rest – Mat Sadler, Shaun Whalley and Jon Nolan all not starting on Tuesday – and I feel that is the right move.

You want those players, key players, as fresh as possible for that all-important semi-final, whoever it may be against.

On the other side of the coin, you cannot deny that things are all a bit rosier after coming out on top at the Meadow on Tuesday.

It felt like a while since we had been able to enjoy a victory.

With that win and the confirmation of safe-standing being installed next month, it has been a pretty good week so far for Salop.

Let’s hope they can continue in the same vein as they head to Blackpool on Saturday – and carry on building confidence before the play-offs come around.