Shrewsbury Town 0-2 Cheltenham Town: Salop concede second-half double to suffer consecutive home defeat
Shrewsbury Town conceded twice inside eight minutes in the second-half against Cheltenham Town to suffer back-to-back home defeats.
Jordan Thomas gave the Robins the lead with a well-taken finish in the 63rd minute before Sam Sherring added a second from a corner eight minutes later.
The loss was Shrewsbury’s third under Gavin Cowan and leaves them 12 points clear of the League Two relegation zone.
The game also marked former Town boss Steve Cotterill’s first return to the Meadow in almost three years, bringing with him a Cheltenham side who were unbeaten in six matches - now seven.
Cotterill spent two and a half years at Salop after taking charge in November 2020. He guided Town to their highest league finish in decades - 12th in League One in 2023 - before departing at the end of that season.
He returned to hometown club Cheltenham with them sitting bottom of the table but has since led them clear of the relegation zone, much like Gavin Cowan has done at Salop.
Cowan, the League Two Manager of the Month for February, made one change for the clash, with Taylor Perry returning to the starting XI in place of Nick Freeman. Otherwise, the side was unchanged from their dramatic victory at Chesterfield.
Tommy McDermott had an early golden chance for the hosts, latching onto a loose ball and beating the defence, but he curled his effort wide with only Joe Day to beat.
It was the kind of opportunity former England striker Emile Heskey would have relished. The former Liverpool and Aston Villa forward was in attendance after Salop adopted the Football Safety App, which he supports.
Meanwhile, Cheltenham’s Isaac Hutchinson looked lively from the off and saw an early effort well held by Matt Cox. Hutchinson had scored Cheltenham’s equaliser at Fleetwood in midweek and arrived in Shropshire with 12 goals and three assists to his name.
Iwan Morgan provided a bright attacking outlet for Town, often cutting in from the left to shoot. His powerful free-kick midway through the half had Day worried and crashed against the crossbar.
It was a tightly contested first-half between two sides who had both pulled themselves clear of danger in the division. Cox had little to worry about otherwise, with Hutchinson firing over in the closing minutes.
Shrewsbury started the second period brightly as Kevin Berkoe fired over from long range. But they posed little threat to goalkeeper Joe Day on the whole.
They found themselves behind just after the hour mark as Cheltenham’s Jordan Thomas produced a lovely finish into the bottom right corner, netting his eighth goal of the season.
The Robins gathered momentum and added a second just eight minutes later, with Sam Sherring meeting Luke Young’s corner to fire low past Cox and leave him with no chance.
Salop were unable to respond and their unbeaten home run against Cheltenham, which stretched back to 2000, came to an end as Steve Cotterill’s side completed the double over Town.
Lineup
Shrewsbury Town XI to face Cheltenham Town: Cox, Kabia, Stubbs, Boyle, Anderson (Benning, 60), Berkoe, Sang, Perry (Freeman, 77), McDermott (Lloyd, 64), Morgan (Scully, 77), Ogunsuyi.
Unused subs: Brook, Lee, Grey.
Referee: Lewis Sandoe
Attendance: 5,786 (415 away)