Shropshire Star

Accrington 2 Shrewsbury 1 - Report and pictures

Shrewsbury Town’s worrying away form continued as Accrington Stanley’s fast start earned them a Boxing Day three point haul, writes Lewis Cox at The Wham Stadium.

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Sam Ricketts’ men were two goals down inside 21 minutes in Lancashire as a festive hangover kicked in and were fortunate to survive the first period just two down.

The visitors improved after the break and netted soon after through a controversial Ollie Norburn penalty but Stanley held on to the points.

Town, who drop to 18th, remain with just one win on the road, the worst record in the division, ahead of another trip on Saturday, to Sunderland.

Salop have won just one December 26 clash in their last 11.

Ricketts went about putting a halt to Shrewsbury’s poor away form by selecting the same XI that earned him a first league win as Salop boss.

Ryan Haynes continued at left-back for the still absent Omar Beckles, who missed the chance to feature against the club he joined Town from.

The visitors’ other former Stanley man, Shaun Whalley, was also missing. The winger still faces another couple of weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Town’s now familiar midfield diamond shape has become the backbone of the team while both centre-forwards Aaron Amadi-Holloway and Fejiri Okenabirhie have been in the goals.

Stanley were so impressive for the first quarter of an hour at Montgomery Waters Meadow in early October. But goalkeeper Conor Ripley’s red card stunted their chances and Alex Gilliead’s header won it for John Askey’s men.

Ripley was again in goal for the hosts, who featured tricky ex-Town man Clark on the wing and former favourite Andy Mangan on the bench.

John Coleman’s Stanley halted a poor run of four league defeats on Saturday with a handsome 3-0 win at Plymouth.

Shrewsbury were caught cold in a woeful start. Every side is tasked to win their first balls and headers but Luke Waterfall’s header went more up than out and Clark jinked into the inside left of the box to curl delightfully into the corner.

A cultured finish that shouldn’t have been on inside 30 seconds.

Stanley were first to everything. Big defender Michael Ihiekwe wrestled Waterfall out the way to nod wide before Connor Hall was off-target and Billy Kee tested Steve Arnold from distance inside 10 minutes.

The visitors’ one sighter was for Okenabirhie, who was forced wide, and could only lash into the standing away fans.

Town were unable to live with Stanley’s tempo and interplay. The hosts were high on confidence and sharper than their visitors, both with and without possession.

Greg Docherty had tried to get Town going with forward runs but he was robbed and Stanley showed no mercy.

Black shirted Town defenders were at sixes and sevens in the box as Clark crossed for the unmarked Kee to finish first-time into the corner.

Only some crucial foot-ins from Mat Sadler and Anthony Grant denied more efforts on the Town goal and it wasn’t until nearing the halfway mark that Salop began matching Stanley with Okenabirhie’s pace causing problems.

Shrews could easily have gone in three goals down had Clark not fired a tame finish straight at Arnold.

The final action of the first half should have halved the deficit. Docherty dug out a super right-sided cross and Josh Laurent could only flick an unmarked header from close range well wide.

Ricketts faced a big half-time team talk and sent for Lenell John-Lewis for Amadi-Holloway as he shuffled his attack at the break.

Stanley went close through Clark’s strike after another quickly-taken free-kick in which Arnold parried into a crowded box.

John-Lewis was making himself busy after his introduction and Town worked their way back into it eight minutes after the restart, thought Stanley were left hugely aggrieved with the awarding of a penalty.

Okenabirhie was smart in falling under pressure of Callum Johnson inside the area, causing Sebastian Stockbridge to point at the spot. Norburn was unerring in smashing in low from 12 yards.

Norburn could have had a leveller seconds later but was a whisker from connecting to John-Lewis’ cross.

Sean McConville and Clark efforts kept Arnold busy as the hosts hunted a killer third.

Ricketts sent on pacy winger Alex Gilliead for Laurent with 18 minutes to play and the flyer was inches away from equalising with his first touches.

He latched on to Okenabirhie’s little pass, danced into the box on the right and slipped just inches wide of the far post.

Town continued to push. Gilliead went down in the box looking for another soft penalty and James Bolton headed a free-kick at Ripley.

But it was the hosts who looked more likely to score late on, sub Offrande Zanzala flashed wide of the far post before Haynes curled one wide for Shrews, who were left without any Christmas cheer at The Wham.

Teams

Accrington Stanley (4-4-2):

Ripley; Johnson, Hughes, Ihiekwe, Anderton; Clark, Barlaster, Finley, McConville (gk), Kee, Hall (Zanzala, 71).

Subs not used: Maxted (gk), Richards-Everton, Brown, Sykes, Sousa, Mangan.

Shrewsbury Town (4-4-2 diamond):

Arnold; Bolton, Waterfall, Sadler, Haynes; Grant (Angol, 87), Norburn, Docherty, Laurent (Gilliead, 73); Amadi-Holloway (John-Lewis, 45), Okenabirhie.

Subs not used: Coleman (gk), Emmanuel, Colkett, Sears.

Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge

Attendance: 3,060 (770 Shrewsbury fans)