Match Report | Shrewsbury 0-1 Wrexham

Despite the efforts of Shrewsbury, we were unable to secure a goal and ultimately lost 1-0 to Wrexham during the third round of the FA Cup.

The town had some amazing opportunities to score the first goal of the game. Chey Dunkley and Tunmise Sobowale almost scored, but unfortunately, the ball missed the target. Mal Benning hit the crossbar with his shot.

Salop had control of the game for 70 minutes until Thomas O'Connor's shot got deflected and ultimately went into the goal, making it past Marko Marosi.

During the added-on time in the match, Shrewsbury was presented with two outstanding opportunities to equalize the score. The player who had the chance to score on both occasions was Taylor Perry.

However, the team from Wales held on and secured a spot in the fourth round.

Manager Matt Taylor chose to maintain his trust in the squad that achieved a resounding victory against Fleetwood as he selected his initial lineup.

This signifies that the Town team maintained their 3-4-2-1 formation, with Tunmise Sobowale and Jordan Shipley positioned slightly behind Ryan Bowman in the offensive line-up.

Wrexham, under the leadership of Phil Parkinson, maintained the same lineup after winning against Barrow 4-1 on January 1st.

The team arranged themselves in a strategy numbered as 3-5-2. This meant that Anthony Forde played as a wing-back on the right side, while James McClean had the same role on the left. Paul Mullin and Steven Fletcher were the two players working together as forwards.

Town started the game strongly as Taylor's team had two good opportunities to score within the first 10 minutes of the game.

Initially, Sobowale delivered a cross which got rid of by an opponent. However, it then dropped to Perry, who was positioned near the box's outskirts.

Afterwards, he struck a powerful shot that was skillfully saved by goalie Arthur Okonkwo.

Barely moments later, the Town team came even nearer to scoring when Benning executed an excellent pass that Dunkley tried to gently kick into the goal.

Despite his best attempt, his shot was diverted slightly by a defending player which caused the ball to miss the goal by a very small margin, causing great disappointment.

The town team was dominating the game and they showed their superiority once more in the 15th minute. Elliott Bennett sent a cross into the area which Max Cleworth was unable to handle.

Shipley was able to strike the ball towards the goal, but Okonkwo was once more correctly positioned to catch it.

As the Croud Meadow shook with excitement, the Town team displayed their finest performance of the whole season. Taylor's players seemed to enjoy the atmosphere immensely.

We had an excellent opportunity to score just under 30 minutes into the game. Shipley delivered a superb cross that landed perfectly in the area of the opposing team's goal.

Sobowale received the ball nearby, but unfortunately, he propelled it too high over the bar.

After the break, Town remained the more dominant of the two squads. Perry seized the ball in the penalty area and shot just past the goal post.

Wrexham reacted by bringing Mullin into the box and he took a shot that was deflected by Marosi.

In the 65th minute, Town almost scored a goal but it hit the crossbar instead. This happened when Benning skillfully took control of the ball and brought it towards the box.

He used the outer part of his foot to bend a fantastic shot towards the goal. It touched the upper part of the ball and then went over the goal post.

Wrexham quickly responded by having Elliot Lee, who was not being closely guarded, miss his shot from eight yards away.

All in all, the game had been completely dominated by Town. However, in the 72nd minute, Wrexham managed to score a goal when George Evans found O'Connor in the penalty box. Despite a significant deflection, the ball still managed to find its way into the net.

There were two more opportunities for Salop to tie the game, both of which were given to Perry. However, Perry was unable to hit the mark and both of his shots missed by a small margin.

Despite their strong efforts, Shrewsbury was unable to score the necessary goal, resulting in their elimination from the FA Cup.

In the game against Shrewsbury, the team consisted of players Marosi, Feeney, Dunkley, Anderson, Benning, Bennett, Kenneh, Perry, Sobowale, Shipley, and Bowman. Later, Pierre substituted Feeney, Sraha replaced Anderson, and Idowu came in for Benning. Then, Bayliss and Mata were substituted for Sobowale and Bowman, respectively, in the 68th minute.

The players Burgoyne, Winchester, Loughran, and Whitney were not utilized during the game.

The football team from Wrexham just played a match and their starting line-up was composed of Okonkwo, Cleworth, Tozer, O'Connor, Forde (who got substituted by Barnett in the 68th minute), Cannon (who was replaced by Jones in the 77th minute), Evans, Lee (who played until the 90th minute and was then replaced by J. Davies), McClean, Fletcher (who was also substituted in the 68th minute, this time by Dalby), and Mullin.

These players were not utilized in the game: McNicholas, Boyle, McFadzean, Young, and Bickerstaff.