Dave Edwards: The shackles are off for Shrewsbury Town

They deserved to win. It is now eight points from six matches under Hurst, but you could easily add another four to the total when you look at how those games have gone.

What I loved was the way they took the game to the Royals, right from the first whistle.

That has been a notable difference since Hurst has been in charge. There has only been the Wigan match where they did not start well and you could maybe put that down to tiredness.

With Town having a full week of training heading into Saturday they came out of the blocks fast and it really rocked the hosts. To get two goals in the opening five minutes is some going.

It was the quality of the goals which impressed as well. I can’t remember a time when I saw three goals in one match as good as those scored by Town on Saturday.

The opener demonstrated the new-found bravery in this team. When you get an early corner, do you want to stick it under the bar and put the goalkeeper under pressure? Get Chey Dunkley and Aaron Pierre in the box?

No, they have worked on set pieces and realised they could catch Reading out and we got Tom Bayliss to Jordan Shipley, a David Beckham to Paul Scholes style corner routine and a fabulous hit as well.

There is pressure on delivering that corner. Bayliss knows if he gets it wrong he is setting up a counter-attack. But the ball was brilliant and the finish excellent.

Then the second goal is completely different, one-touch football in the middle of the park, running off the ball and Bayliss keeps his composure to beat the keeper.

Of course, Reading then peg it back but Town kept pushing forward, when they could have wilted at that point. Tom Bloxham has been a favourite of Hurst in these early games and he has been rewarded, I think, with his best performance in a Shrewsbury shirt.

All afternoon he was going after the Reading left-back. With the way he plays, he is always going to give the ball away because he is so aggressive but he has so much potential. The goal he scored on Saturday was magnificent.

Town’s away form since Hurst came in has been impressive. They have picked up seven points in three matches, having taken just eight in their first 14, while also scoring six of their 10 total away goals.

That is astounding really, from where they were. The difference is Hurst is sending his team out to go and win games, rather than not lose them. That might sound a throwaway comment but you know as a player when a manager has set you up not to lose a game. There is a distinction there and you can see it as a fan.

Massive credit must go to Hurst and his staff for that philosophy because at a point of the season when Town are right in trouble, it would be so easy to go into these games and stick men behind the ball.

Instead, he has decided the best form of defence is attack. It has put them in a position now where they have a little bit of breathing space.

I’d like to end this column by putting on record my congratulations to Joe Hart for what has been an incredible career.

First meeting him when he was 15, I knew he was a good goalkeeper but to go on and have the career he has is amazing. All the ingredients you need to play football at the top level, Joe has in abundance.

It’s been a fabulous career and as Salopians we should all be very proud it began at Gay Meadow, on Sundorne training pitches, at Meole Brace school.

Hopefully he can enjoy these final months at Celtic and sign off on a high.

On a personal level, I’m looking forward to playing a bit more golf with him.