|
| Swansea 1 v 1 Shrewsbury |
A Matthew Bound leveller after the hour ensured a share of the spoils, but it was a night of bitter disappointment for The Swans.
The Welshmen made just one change to the line-up that slipped up at promotion rivals Rotherham last Monday. Teenager Stuart Roberts slotting into a wide midfield role, Jon Coates in at left-back for the injured Michael Howard.
The Shrews were boosted before kick-off when ex-Wimbledon stopper Brian Gayle passed a late fitness test. Yet there was a forced alteration to the team that crashed to relegation-haunted Hartlepool at Gay Meadow on Tuesday, with Mike Brown in for the injured Roger Preece.
The Welshmen started brightly enough but were rocked on ten minutes as The Shrews grabbed a lead. Gareth Hanmer's vicious inswinging free-kick was touched on by Lee Steele, and midfielder Kevin Seabury stabbed home his fourth of the campaign.
John Hollins' men were struggling to find any continuity, but on 22 minutes Kris O'Leary pirouetted superbly before cracking a sharp right-footer narrowly wide. Indeed, the tentative Swans were almost level 16 minutes later as Welsh Under-21 international, Coates, burst through and unleashed a blistering blast, which clipped Paul Edwards' bar en route over.
Swansea made a double change at the interval as they sought salvation. Abrasive midfielder Martin Thomas returned for a first appearance for three months, as did striker Tony Bird, with Roberts and Julian Alsop hauled off.
Three minutes after the break, the two substitutes linked smoothly only for ex-Cardiff man, Bird, to see his close-range drive beaten back by Edwards.
Most of The Swans' enterprise floundered on Shrews' rocks, Gayle, Peter Wilding and Andy Tretton, but the Welshmen were level on 68 minutes in bizarre fashion.
Merseyside referee George Cain had over-ruled assistant Keith Buller, when a flag was raised for a goal-kick. From a curiously-awarded dropped ball, Shrewsbury paid the maximum penalty for a shoddy clearance, as Matthew Bound drilled home from 25 yards.
The Swans furiously threw everything forward in search of a maximum and Edwards excelled again as he finger-tipped a Steve Watkin blockbuster to safety.
Swansea City:
Freestone,
Jones, S,
Coates,
Cusack,
Smith,
Bound,
O'Leary,
Appleby,
Alsop,
Watkin,
Roberts,
Lacey,
Shrewsbury Town: Edwards,
Seabury,
Hanmer,
Wilding,
Tretton,
Gayle,
Berkley,
Kerrigan,
Steele,
Brown,
Jobling,
Craven,
Herbert,
Substitutions
Swansea City: Bird, for Alsop (46), Thomas, for Roberts (46)
Shrewsbury Town: Jagielka, for Steele (80)
Substitutions
Swansea City: Bird, for Alsop (46), Thomas, for Roberts (46)
Shrewsbury Town: Jagielka, for Steele (80)
Bookings
Swansea City: None.
Shrewsbury Town: Brown (66)
Referee: G. Cain (Bootle)
Attendance 5,113