Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Doncaster – Lewis Cox's player ratings

Shrewsbury Town finally ended their winning drought with a crucial 1-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers at Montgomery Waters Meadow.

Published

Captain Dave Edwards netted the crucial winner, 14 minutes from time, for Sam Ricketts' men in largely even and competitive League One clash.

Town reporter Lewis Cox rates the performances as Shrews secure their first league win of the calendar year.

Max O'Leary - An impressive afternoon’s work from the goalkeeper, who made a few fine saves to preserve Town’s first league clean sheet in 10 games. His saves from Ben Whiteman’s long-range curler and then Cameron John’s low finish near the death were massive. 8

Kayne Ramsay - Something of a mixed bag for the on-loan Southampton defender in just his second Shrews start but he can be reasonably pleased. Caught the eye going forward with purpose and ability but a little lose with ball and positioning at the back at times.7

Ethan Ebanks-Landell - In a central two alongside Aaron Pierre as Sam Ricketts re-shuffled to a back four and it brought the best out of the defensive duo. Ebanks-Landell made a handful of crucial clearances and was a thorn in Rovers’ side for Town set-pieces. 8

Aaron Pierre - Enjoyed one of his best performances for a number of weeks on the back of stepping it up at Portsmouth seven days earlier. Cleared his lines when tasked to and generally defended strongly. In typical Pierre style he twice threatened Rovers with two outlandish efforts. 8

Omar Beckles - Selected at left-back over natural left-sided defenders Scott Golbourne and Sam Hart and justified his selection, adding to solid recent form. The versatile defender carried out his duties intelligently and was a willing runner up and down the flank. 7

Josh Vela - The former Bolton man was finally made his long-awaited Shrewsbury debut and, in a first outing for almost four months, Vela looked the part. The busy midfielder gave a physical performance but showed he can also pick a pass and his set-pieces were on the money. 7

Dave Edwards - A real captain’s performance from Town’s hometown hero, who was one of the star turns even before his late winner – a first league goal since returning to Salop. Set the tone with some great tackles early on and didn’t stop working. A shame to see him limp off after netting. 8

Callum Lang - The striker was used in a more unfamiliar right sided role of an attacking three behind Daniel Udoh and he was excellent. Lang was a constant menace to his full-back and created Town’s winner and other chances. Happy to do the hard yards working back. 8

Josh Laurent - Deployed in a more advanced midfield role, effectively a ‘No10’ behind Udoh and Laurent was busy, mostly catching the eye with his boundless energy on the press catching Rovers cold. A couple of efforts from distance flew off target but otherwise was tidy. 7

Conor McAleny - Possibly the quietest he has been since making his loan switch from Fleetwood, but the attacker still caused problems when he did get the ball. His low strike in the second half was flying in before Seny Dieng’s save. Limped off with a hamstring problem. 7

Daniel Udoh - Dropped a level below his impressive recent performances but still gave a very impressive performance. He embodied Town’s energy levels in the crucial victory by leading the press with selfless running. A little sloppy on the ball at times but worked hard. 8

Substitutes:

Sean Goss (McAleny, 63) - Went close with a free-kick that landed on the roof of the net and put himself about. 6

Jason Cummings (Edwards, 82) - Some decent runs down the right as Town looked to break late on. n/a

Brad Walker (Vela, 82) - Good to have another option back from injury in midfield. n/a

Subs not used: Burgoyne, Love, Golbourne, Williams.