Shrewsbury Town V Gillingham – Sky Bet League 1 (28/08/2021)
Finally after an almost two year wait I was back home at my boyhood team and my club, Montgomery Waters Meadow to watch my beloved Shrewsbury Town take on Gillingham. A different walk to the ground as Crouchy parked up in Rebrook, the opposite part of town I usually would come from but it was still a pretty straight forward walk to the ground and probably helps that I know Shrewsbury like the back of my hand. Before the walk Crouchy lad got changed into his Salop shirt which coupled with his Town shorts made him a fully fledged kit wanker at the age of 35!!
We got to the ground about an hour before kick off and took a wander around the stadium, took a few photos and went to the club shop to pick up my new Salop home shirt that had been put aside for me by an old teaching assistant from my school days Sib, who works in the club shop and a programme. Had a quick gander in the fan zone and then split from Crouch to make my way round to my seat, as I found my turnstile I bumped into a Salop player from the Conference years, Martin O’Connor which was a bonus. When I got inside the ground I grabbed myself a pre match pie and a bottle of Fanta which came to a total of £4.50, my steak and ale pie was nice but a shame about the pastry as it fell apart pretty easily making it a difficult one to eat without a fork.
As the game kicked of myself and my mate said that Gillingham looked like they were there for the taking today and Salop seemed to take the upper hand in the opening of the game but on 12 minutes via a bit of a howler from Maroši after a Tucker shot that he should have held onto somehow crept through his arms, Gillingham took the lead but you could see how frustrated Maroši was with himself.
Following the goal Town kind of found themselves on the back foot, Cosgrove had chances to equalise but he either took too many touches when he should have got his shot off or passed when the shot was available for himself. Was not a fan of the majority of the Town fans booing the team off at half time, fair enough we were 1-0 down but it was a lot better performance than recent weeks.
The second half started and Town looked like they had the spring in their step back that they had to start the first half as they seemed the more dangerous of the two sides. After a clearance following a Leahy cross Salop drew level on 60 minutes with a sublime overhead kick from Bloxham, this may have been one of the best goals I’ve seen in person at a Shrewsbury game. Great technique and what a goal to be our first league goal of the season, much deserved from the youth team graduate as he’s really been impressive so far this season.
After the equaliser only one team looked like getting anything more than a point out of the game and it came on 68 minutes following an Udoh ball that was cut across the six yard box and Cosgrove made amends from his earlier untaken chances with a great finish to make it 2-1 to Salop. Town looked dangerous and could have easily won more comfortably in my opinion as the second half continued.
As if a first pair of League One goals and looking like a first League One win of the season wasn’t enough, the game then ended in madness with a mass brawl involving both sets of teams and benches following a coming together on the pitch involving David Davis and a Gillingham player which resulted in both being sent off and Harry Burgoyne who was an unused substitute being shown a red for his involvement.
A great return back to Montgomery Waters Meadow for me today with Shrewsbury getting the win and a much better performance from the team, Gillingham manager Steve Evans, lived up to his pantomime villain reputation also. It was good to see how passionate Steve Cotterill was on the side lines and he was hardly ever sat on the bench.
I don’t hide the fact that I preferred Gay Meadow but Salop have been able to make Montgomery Waters Meadow our home and it looks and feels like our home too. I’ll never not enjoy a trip back home to watch my club Shrewsbury Town.
So onto my ratings…
Ticket Price – £20
Programme Price – £3
Programme Rating – 8/10
Refreshments – 6/10
Stadium Facilities – 6/10
Getting To Stadium – 10/10
Stadium Rating – 8/10
Thanks for reading my thoughts on Shrewsbury Town against Gillingham.
Daz Carding
Football Days With A Salopian Jambo 