Dave Edwards: Pompey was tough – but Shrewsbury can take positives
It was always going to be a daunting task travelling to Portsmouth, who have been in phenomenal form.
They will be a Championship side next season and it was a tough task for Shrewsbury.
Paul Hurst said during the week that with recent performances it might be a game that could prove very difficult for Town, and going 1-0 down after switching off from a throw-in and not reacting quickly enough, makes it much harder.
They will have been disappointed to go behind so early in the game and that’s when you worry that the floodgates might open, but after the game settled down, Town did start to get a foothold in it.
They kept the ball a bit better and scored a really good goal. It was a good move down the left and they got bodies in the box.
It was a massive plus to have Shipley back and available. It was a tidy finish and Town were in a good place as Portsmouth began to get frustrated.
Then comes the controversy. Carl Winchester and Paul Hurst were not happy because it was a terrible decision from the referee.
There were lots of bodies around it and the referee didn’t have the best angle, but still, you can quite clearly see the Portsmouth player waiting for the contact, which doesn’t come, and he still goes to the floor.
