George Lloyd’s stunning strike earns Shrewsbury Town pre-season draw at Hereford
Gavin Cowan’s side recovered from conceding inside the opening four minutes, but were left to rue a string of missed late chances.
A stunning second-half strike from George Lloyd earned Shrewsbury Town a pre-season draw at Hereford.
Lloyd curled home a superb equaliser soon after the hour mark as Town responded after falling behind inside the opening stages, but they were unable to make late pressure count.
The clash at Edgar Street marked the first meeting between the sides since a summer friendly in 2021, when two late goals saw Shrewsbury come from behind to win 2-1.
But Town were unable to replicate that comeback in the latest staging of the ‘A49 derby’, named after the road linking the two towns.
The hosts flew out of the blocks and applied pressure from the first whistle. It took them less than four minutes to take the lead.
Cawley Cox wove past several Town players before finding Billy Phillips on the right edge of the box. Given too much space, Phillips fired a low effort beyond Will Brook and into the bottom-left corner.
Salop looked to respond immediately to their nightmare start, with Isaac England at the heart of several promising attacks.
England came closest to an equaliser, forcing an excellent save from Theo Richardson with a curling effort from outside the area, while Isaac Fletcher saw a sweetly struck volley blocked on the line.
Town continued to pile on the pressure and Josh Davison was left frustrated after dragging a one-on-one chance well wide.
Hereford’s Liam Roberts forced Brook into an early second-half save, but the majority of the chances after the restart fell to Town, particularly in the closing stages.
Lloyd finally drew Salop level in the 66th minute. Picked out by Arkell Jude-Boyd, he curled a superb effort into the top-left corner from the edge of the box, giving Richardson no chance.
Gavin Cowan’s side pushed for a winner, with Joe Gbode seeing a header superbly saved, Jude-Boyd curling agonisingly wide and Kevin Berkoe blazing over from inside the box. But Town were unable to make their chances count.
Shrewsbury were without several key players. Josh Ruffels missed out, while Jack Price also remained sidelined. Luca Hoole completed running and ball drills before kick-off but was not involved.
Salop conclude their pre-season campaign on Saturday when they welcome Aston Villa Under-21s.
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