Analysis: Solid Shrewsbury Town serve up a fitting tribute to fans’ favourite ‘Jags’

It is, rather simply, because Steve Cotterill’s team, as the statistic would suggest, are hard to beat.

Despite their somewhat lowly, humble position in the table, they are no pushovers and they make opposition fight and graft and battle for every chance they create and goal they score.

Town had lost six of their first 13 league games this season when Cotterill was appointed (they drew another six and won just one). They had lost home games against poor visitors in Bristol Rovers, Rochdale and Northampton. Sam Ricketts’ side did draw a number of games, but did not prove particularly difficult to beat.

Since Cotterill’s appointment in late November, however, Shrewsbury have lost just four of 20 league games amid a record-breaking start for any Town boss.

That is an incredible return made more staggering by the sad fact that Cotterill has been in hospital or at home away from the club for around three-quarters of his tenure.

His Town team are not easily beaten. Two of those defeats, and the only occasion Shrews lost by more than a single goal, came in the week Cotterill was re-admitted to hospital, when Aaron Wilbraham admitted the players were hit hard by the news.

Against leaders Hull on Saturday, a side who had won five on the spin and conceded just once, Town portrayed everything they have improved on over recent months.

Despite not winning, it was one of Shrewsbury’s finest displays of recent weeks and months – despite the efforts of referee Gavin Ward, who did his best to deny any chance of a football match breaking out. There looked to be very little between the two sides, despite Hull’s plethora of quality.

As Wilbraham stressed after the final whistle, Town, when on their game, are a relentless side who will run hard and make opposition sweat for every 50-50 and second ball. Former team-mates of Wilbraham’s admitted to the stand-in boss afterwards that they struggled to cope with Shrewsbury’s energy and running power.

The afternoon will also be remembered for poignant reasons, as the football club paid tribute and remembered one of their own, Steve Jagielka.

The immensely popular former wide midfielder died last week, aged 43. He was a huge favourite with Shrewsbury fans as well as supporters of AFC Telford United and had also turned out for Market Drayton and Ellesmere Rangers. Born in Manchester, he was very much an adopted Salopian.

A bunch of daffodils, with the note ‘RIP JAGS’, adorned the Montgomery Waters Meadow gates ahead of the clash.

A selection of Jagielka’s former team-mates, including Mickey Brown, Pete Wilding and Sam Aiston, as well as the late midfielder’s family, had been invited to the match to the pay their respects.

The build-up to the minute’s silence, and indeed the period of reflection itself, was hugely poignant as the face of the member of Town’s exclusive 200 club lit up the scoreboard looking out over the pitch.

It was an emotional occasion as Salop remembered one of their sons tragically gone far too soon.

And the performance that followed was delivered with every bit of enthusiasm, passion and energy as one of Jagielka’s 207 Shrews appearances. It was a fitting tribute from the current Town crop.

The Tigers, who have crashed in a mammoth 41 goals on the road this term, were almost completely nullified. Returning Shrewsbury goalkeeper Matija Sarkic was almost totally untroubled and it took a bit of genius from former Salop favourite Greg Docherty, with a curling 25-yard effort, to haul the visitors level and take something back home from Shropshire.

It was another example of the progress Salop have made in recent months and shows how little there is separating clubs at this level, apart from consistency.

The hosts had earned themselves a lead that was not undeserved with a memorable moment of brilliance of their own.

For a brief moment it looked like Shrewsbury starlet Nathanael Ogbeta, the club’s Manchester City-honed whizzkid who could not have made a bigger impression since checking in, had thrashed in a landmark goal.

The 19-year-old left wing-back struck a stunning 25-yard free-kick, almost with his instep but with the power of a pure laces effort, that cannoned off the Hull crossbar before crossing the line.

Ogbeta tore away towards the West Stand in celebration with his euphoric team-mates. Unfortunately for the teenager, the ball struck the back of flailing City goalkeeper Matt Ingram before crossing the line and, as per the rules, will go down as an own goal.

It was a special moment which, while on paper may have been taken away from the talented teen, he will remember for a long time. The only thing so sadly missing was a packed Meadow stand full of supporters going nuts.

The wait for Ogbeta’s first Shrewsbury goal and indeed first senior goal goes on. But one suspects he will not be waiting for too much longer.

Indeed, he was leading the charge late on as the hosts looked like the side more likely to snatch a winner – albeit Hull were predictably having a go themselves. Ogbeta’s keenness and bravery to make things happen were summed up by a couple more efforts from out wide kept out by Ingram, one that whizzed over at the near post and another rampaging run into the Hull box which ended in a penalty appeal but saw the youngster booked for simulation – one of eight yellow cards flashed by overly-fussy referee Ward.

Ogbeta came on strong but the top Town performer, yet again, was Josh Vela.

Shrewsbury’s Mr Consistent, the midfielder has been by some way Town’s player of the season this term and keeps improving. Moved into a slightly more advanced ‘No.10 role’ on Saturday, his energy in midfield and the final third was unrelenting. He has been excellent.

Salop now face their final 13 games in under seven weeks. It promises to be chaotic, but this team is more than capable at pushing on and eclipsing last season’s finish of 15th and building momentum ready for the manager’s return.