A striker’s dream moment – Shrewsbury's hat-trick heroes
Ryan Bowman bagged a hat-trick in Town’s win against Notts County – but who scored the last 10 hat-tricks for Shrewsbury?
A goal in the first half and two in the second was enough to send Salop into the third round of the FA Cup for the seventh consecutive year.
It was the first time a Shrewsbury player had scored three times in a clash since October 2021.
Ryan Bowman
It so happens Bowman was the previous hat-trick hero for the club, too. It was during his first season at the Croud Meadow after joining from Exeter. It was the first time he had scored in front of the home crowd after he netted his first goal for the club at Hillsborough the month before.
It followed a similar pattern to his most recent hat-trick. He scored early, in the sixth minute, before adding a goal in the 73rd and 83rd minutes to help guide Salop to a 4-1 win.
Shilow Tracey
The winger’s career never really got going at Shrewsbury, with him only making eight appearances in League One during his time in Shropshire.
But there was one stand-out moment for him when he scored a hat-trick against Crewe during their Football League Trophy clash back in November 2020.
In a team featuring two current Salop players – Harry Burgoyne and Aaron Pierre – Tracey scored either side of half-time after Matthew Millar had opened the scoring for Town.
With the clash finely poised at 3-3, Tracey bagged the winner and completed his hat-trick eight minutes from time.
Fejiri Okenabirhie
A player to have scored more than one hat-trick in the 2018/19 season, the most recent was in a 4-3 defeat at Bradford in League One.
He got his third goal in the 93rd minute, converting a penalty after Shaun Whalley was tripped in the box, only for David Ball to score a winner for the hosts in the 96th minute.
The other was earlier on that season in the Football League Trophy as Town smashed six past Tranmere.
Other players to score that day were Lenell John-Lewis, Greg Docherty and Omar Beckles. Town had led 3-0 at half-time and Okenabirhie’s second-half triple completed the thrashing.
He played against Town this season, starting for Cambridge United back in October in the 1-1 draw at Abbey Stadium.
John-Louis Akpa Akpro
You have to go back to October 2014 to find the next hat-trick scored by a Shrewsbury Town player. Akpro scored 15 league goals for Town in 83 appearances during his two-year stint in Shropshire, including the three he netted in the game against Bury at the Meadow.
He scored twice before half-time before adding his third six minutes after the restart as Town cruised to a 5-0 victory.
Tom Eaves
The current Rotherham United forward had two spells at Town and during his first, he scored a second-half hat-trick in the 2012/13 season to guide Salop to a 3-0 win over Crawley in League One.
He scored a total of eight goals during both stints in Shropshire and also went on to play for Hull City and Gillingham.
Lionel Ainsworth
Under Graham Turner in the 2010/11 season, Ainsworth scored a 13-minute hat-trick as Town beat Lincoln City 5-1 at Sincil Bank.
Town already led 2-1 when he scored his first goal in the 22nd minute, he then went on to score two minutes later before completing his triple in the 35th minute.
Unbelievably, the score was 5-1 with just 35 minutes gone – and that is how the game finished.
Mark Wright
Ainsworth’s was one of three hat-tricks that season as midfielder Mark Wright got one in the 4-0 win over Hereford, too.
Wright made over 100 appearances for Town and later played for Tamworth and Stourbridge before retiring in 2016.
Jake Robinson
The first hat-trick of the 2010/11 was on the opening day of the League Two season against Bradford in a game Town ended up winning 3-1, despite Kevin McIntyre being sent off in the 69th minute.
Town finished fourth that season and missed out on automatic promotion by one point. Chesterfield, Bury and Wycombe were promoted while Stevenage went up via the play-offs.
Grant Holt
Save the best till last. Holt scored five goals in the Football League Trophy against Wycombe at Adams Park back in the 2008/09 campaign.
He scored two in the first half before adding his third, fourth and fifth of the game late on as Town went on to register a 7-0 thrashing of The Chairboys.
It was not the only time Town scored seven times that season as they also smashed seven past Gillingham in League Two.
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