There are moments in games that can sometimes be the turning points in a season – could this be one for Shrewsbury Town?
Head coach Matt Taylor said his players have ‘suffered’ a great deal in the last month.
Shrews had not scored a goal in league or cup action in more than 770 minutes, not including stoppages – the last time they scored was when Dan Udoh fired in the winner against Fleetwood on August 26.
As he so often is for Shrews, he was the man for the big occasion again when they needed him most, and he did so firing beyond Lee Burge to give them a much-needed victory to end a tough week.
But the real turning point came 20 minutes prior to Udoh’s winner. It looked as if Sam Hoskins was going to give the Cobblers the lead when Carl Brooks pointed to the spot.
Tom Flanagan’s reckless challenge on the corner of the penalty area was adjudged inside the box – something Taylor said post-match he had no complaints about.
With the way things have been going for Town if that penalty had gone in, and confidence already being low, it looked a real long way back for them.
But Hoskins smashed his spot-kick against the bar and Town were able to clear it.
That was the moment. For the first time in a long while, it felt as though something had fallen for Shrews – they needed to take advantage of it, and they did.
Let’s not get away from the fact this last month has been a tough watch – a new group of players and staff are still finding their feet in Shropshire and that has been fairly evident in games.
There have been good performances, where Shrews have deserved more. Think back to the 0-0 draw against Charlton, a game they arguably had the chances to win.
Oxford in midweek is a good example, with Shrews creating very little.
The win does not solve their problems. This team is still a work in progress – Micky Moore and Taylor would probably be the first people to acknowledge that.
They have only scored five goals this season in League One, which in 11 games is a concerning statistic – only one side have scored less.
Udoh’s goal on Saturday, which he scored after great work from Nohan Kenneh in midfield, was Town’s second goal in the last 10 games across all competitions.
Town’s problems are obvious for all to see, and for 91 minutes on Saturday, that game against Northampton looked as if it was heading for a draw.
If anything, the Cobblers were the ones to create the better chances in normal time, Marko Marosi pulling off a wonderful save to deny Mitchell Pinnock with the only clear-cut chance of the first half, and then of course that penalty miss in the second.
It was the case of same old, same old for Town. They huffed and puffed but created very little. They got into some good positions at times, but as ever that final ball was just missing.
A draw would have been a fair result, and Cobblers boss Jon Brady will be furious to have lost a game they never looked like losing.
But at some point, something had to go in Shrewsbury’s favour, a bit of luck, anything just to get that ball over the line.
The moment itself was brilliant with Udoh celebrating with his team-mates in front of the South Stand.
It was a weekend where teams who could not score, finally did.
Shrews for one. But also Cheltenham Town, as a former Salop loanee Rob Street got on the scoresheet for the Robins as they scored their first goal of the league season, a quite remarkable statistic 12 games in.
Taylor had spoken in midweek about how he is an out-of-possession coach and how he has been pleased with the work his team have done defensively. And it is hard to disagree with him.
Another clean sheet, their fourth of the season, is another positive.
For those wanting to make comparisons to last season’s side, they have conceded fewer goals in their first 11 games of this season, with 12 than they had at this point last season, with 13.
Of course, that depends on fixtures and other factors that can vary.
It is a start of what might, and I stress the word might, be some kind of recovery for Town – and, let’s be honest, it was great to see them back on the score sheet.
They deserve to enjoy the moment before preparing for next weekend’s game – where they could be without a host of first-choice players after losing Morgan Feeney and Taylor Perry to injury.
