Tension turns to tears

Shrewsbury Town's promotion dreams came to a heartbreaking end for the blue and amber army which made the long trip to Wembley for Saturday's play-off final.

A day that started in the Shropshire sun ended in the Wembley rain as disappointed fans were left to rue what could have been.

More than 23,000 Town fans packed into the impressive new national stadium for the League Two play-off final against Bristol Rovers.

But the tension turned to tears for many leaving the ground as Shrewsbury's valiant late rally failed to find the equaliser.

The day had started with plenty of promise as Wembley Way was flooded with a sea of blue and amber - or red and black - from late morning as fans soaked up the atmosphere following the long trek from Shropshire.

Once inside the ground Town's regular matchday announcer Ryan Jervis stirred up the excitement before kick-off, introducing a special rendition of the Gay Meadow favourite Catch Me If You Can.

While Town's impressive support was outnumbered almost two-to-one in the 61,589 crowd, the travelling Shropshire fans were hardly outsung by Rovers 40,000 followers.

Chants of Salop echoed round Wembley after the first shot of the game by Town's Danny Hall inside the first minute and even that noise was eclipsed just moments later when Stewart Drummond put Town 1-0 up.

However two first-half goals by Rovers striker Richard Walker and a late strike by Sammy Igoe for Rovers subdued the Town fans on an afternoon that started with optimism but ultimately ended in disappointment.

Many fans greeted the final whistle with tears. And as if to add insult to injury the heavens opened as Town's loyal supporters trudged their way back to the coaches, cars and train stations to make their way back to Shropshire. Steve Bromley, from Wem, said: "I think it was a fairly even game and Shrewsbury didn't deserve to lose. We just lacked the cutting edge."

Holly Fancourt, from Belle Vue, Shrewsbury, said: "I didn't think it was a fair result at all. Bristol Rovers got two lucky goals when Shrewsbury just seemed to go to sleep.

Linden Lloyd had travelled from Cirencester to be at the game with his family from Shrewsbury. He said: "I didn't think we deserved to lose. We just didn't take our chances. We did so well to get here but it is disappointing to lose.

"The atmosphere was great. The fans did their best and it's just a shame we couldn't get the right result."

Josh Harbourne, from Gains Park, Shrewsbury, added: "I reckon we should have won but we just didn't take our chances. We could have been 3-0 up at half time.

"Bristol Rovers did well up front and that was the difference. I was expecting us to get the result and take the trophy back to Shrewsbury but there is always next season."

Paul Ratcliffe, from Pontesbury, said: "I'm very disappointed at the result obviously. I think we will do it next season though - we'll go up through the automatic promotion places."

Alan Bowkley, from Copthorne, Shrewsbury, said: "We were so close and I really believe we deserved something from today. I thought we played really well, but they just couldn't get the second goal they needed.

"It has been a fantastic season, but there will always be next time."

Derek Meredith, from Ludlow, said he thought there were a lot of positives to be taken out of what was a day to be proud of for Town.

He said: "I thought they played very well and there were some big performances from some players, not least Ben Herd who did brilliantly coming in at the last minute. It took some great finishing from Walker in the end to beat us. We had the chances and should have put three or four away in the first 20 minutes. They definitely deserved something from the game."

"Given what we had coming into the game, with Ben Davies out and Luke Jones getting injured in the warm-up, it was always going to be tough.

"Bristol Rovers didn't have more than three or four efforts in the whole game, but they took their chances well."

David Roberts, from Radbrook, said: "I'm gutted. We didn't take the chances in front of goal. The atmosphere was really good and it is a nice stadium but it was just the wrong result.

"I would love to still be out there celebrating. Hopefully we will do it next season when we are in the new stadium."