A different proposition.

28 February 2026: Shrewsbury Town 1, Walsall 2.

28 February 2026: Shrewsbury Town 1, Walsall 2.

Shrewsbury: Cox; Ruffles [R]; Boyle [Y]; Hoole (Stubbs 45’+3); Perry (Freeman 68’); Benning (Kabia 68’); Berkoe; Clucas (McDermott 60’); Sang; Morgan; Lloyd (Ogunsuyi 60’).

Unused substitutes: Anderson, Brook.

Scorer: Morgan (45’+6).

Walsall: Hornby [Y]; Weir; Flint; Farquharson; Comely; Harper; Okeke; Jellis; Lakin (Clarke 82’); Kanu (Adomah 69’); Pressley (Matt 83’).

Unused substitutes: Barrett; Burke; Kilroy; Pattison.

Scorer: Farquharson (28’, 62’).

Match officials: Referee – Mr R Eley; Assistants – Mr O Nolan & Mr D Robinson; Fourth – Mr M Barlow.

Attendance: 7,879.

Well, how was it for you? Good while it lasted, I expect. After my Salford piece I was mildly chastised for pointing out that all good things do come to an end. In stating this truism, I might have been trying a bit of reverse psychology, tempting fate to get the desired outcome rather than a bad one. As my parents repeatedly told me: it is possible to be too clever by half, something which I continue to prove even though they are no longer here to pull me up about it.

For a supporters of a club that has for a long time struggled to average a point a game, to be transformed into a winning machine that, for the time between the victory over Barrow and the away win against Salford, was accumulating points at an average of one a day, the whole experience cannot have been anything other than discombobulating. Going into a local derby against play-off chasing rivals as favourites for a win! What us? Shrewsbury Town! Come off it. That, though, was the situation as I strolled down Hereford Road on a bright and sunny morning that had just a hint of spring about it.

Not for the first time in the winning streak, a fixture appeared to be coming at a very opportune time for Salop. Walsall’s promotion push had been coming apart during a run of one victory in the previous nine matches. For supporters of a club still kicking itself for missing out on a promotion that seemed so certain last season that the trophy cabinet at the Bescot had submitted planning permission for an extension, the prospect of another campaign fizzling out was more than enough cause for an outbreak of collective tetchiness. With the number of remaining fixtures quickly approaching single figures, the opportunities to get back on track for a playoff place were starting to dwindle.

At the Supporters’ Parliament meeting a couple of days previous, Major Cowan had excused an early exit by saying that he still needed to work on his battleplan for the coming Saturday. His starting line up had been tweaked slightly from the eleven that had started at Salford. Sam Clucas came in to replace Tommy McDermott, to play a role in midfield alongside Tom Sang, with Taylor Perry positioned in front of the three centre backs – Lucca Hoole, Will Boyle and Josh Ruffels. The slightly different tactical formation seemed to be working as Salop came out of the blocks strongly. For the first ten minutes the home side moved the ball round positively, creating three good opportunities for an attempt at goal cumulating with Iwan Morgan’s effort that forced a sharp save out of Sam Hornby. A couple of corners followed. The sunshine started to feel even more springlike.

As the first period matured, however, the visitors were being very effective in squeezing Salop out of the game. Cowan has insisted that his teams do not play ‘hope football’, but for once Town were struggling to fashion any precise movement and were resorting to getting the ball forward quickly. The problem was that the Saddlers’ back line of Goliaths were winning the aerial battle and promptly returning the ball into dangerous areas. Neither side was being creative enough for the match to be a succession of goal scoring attempts, but the visitors were dominating with an intent to capitalise on any set piece that came their way. Given referee Richard Eley’s pickiness about what he saw as foul play, it was only a matter of time before such an opportunity would come Walsall’s way and just on the half hour a long-free kick into the box from just past the centre circle was knocked down for Priestley Farquarson who was able to control the ball and send it thorough the Town defence and into the net.

Salop’s attempts to get back into the game were largely limited to Morgan’s thrusting long throw-ins and these were not breaking in the home side’s favour. On the one occasion the visitor’s goal was threatened Hornby pulled off a point-blank save. Things got worse when Hoole sustained a knock that curtailed his participation in the game, although in somewhat farcical circumstances he had to briefly return to the field of play due to Sam Subbs’ tardiness in getting ready. With the first half having given way to time added on for stoppages, a Farquarson foul on George Lloyd set up a free kick directly in front of goal. A beautifully executed dead ball shot by Morgan curved round Walsall’s Hadrian-like defensive wall and beat Hornby’s desperate stretch for the ball. Salop went into the break back on level terms, with a platform for a second half comeback.

If Salop had constructed a platform, the second half showed that it was one with a trap door in it. Equalising on the stroke of half time denied the home side an opportunity to run at a team that could have been wobbling. Instead, the visitors were able to regroup and after the restart executed their gameplan with the same effectiveness as before the break. Salop continued to be starved of scoring opportunities, and on the hour mark the Major withdrew the frustratingly ineffective Clucas and George Lloyd and brought on McDermott and Trey Ogunsuyi. The substitutes had barely crossed the white line when Walsall regained the lead from set piece play, another free kick from which Aden Flint bumped the ball into the goalmouth and Farquarson scoring his second goal of the match with a looping back header.

Salop made a desperate effort to get back into the game, but as they had not been able to generate any momentum in the preceding play it was from a standing start. Quite naturally the visitors had no incentive to open the game up, so continued to frustrate their opponents equally effectively whether they were in possession of the ball or not. Town had chances but did not really look sharp enough to take any. One of the distinctive features of Salop’s recent purple patch of wins was how several players that had looked mediocre under Michael Appleton had risen to the challenges given to them by their new head coach. Taylor Perry, Mal Benning and Tom Sang were very prominent examples of this; against Walsall they seemed to have lapsed back into the old fallible versions of themselves. With twenty minutes left, Perry and Benning were replaced by Nick Freeman and Ismeal Kabia. Meanwhile, Sang’s corner kicks were proving to be totally substandard. At the Supporters’ Parliament Cowan had sat in rapt attention as a veteran supporter described the famous ‘Shrewsbury style near post corners’ of the halcyon days at Gay Meadow. If Sang has been working on a similar set piece delivery, then some further time on the training ground is required.

Salop carved out some precious chances, but nothing came off. Walsall were content to slow things down and with the clock ticking down Hornby was booked for time wasting. Come the final minute of a half that had contained seven substitutions, a lengthy goal celebration and instances of blatant time wasting, Mr Eley’s stinginess was in evidence when he added only four minutes on for stoppage time. These four minutes were eventually stretched out to seven, but unfortunately for the home side this was mainly due to a stoppage where Mr Eley harshly dismissed Ruffels for one of the more innocuous of dangerous high kicks it is possible to witness. Salop’s ten men still managed to fight to the last second of the match, summoning up enough to give Boyle an opportunity for a headed attempt at goal which went narrowly wide.

In his post-match interview Gavin Cowan attempted to construct a case against Mr Eley, but this was unlikely to reach the desk of the Director of Football Prosecutions. Salop had been outplayed and while it was not inconceivable that they could have pickpocketed a draw from this match, it was only the visitors that had a real claim on three points. So, a totally unexpected five match winning streak has come to an end. It is easy to overlook the fact that this run was very intense – there were only twenty-one days separating Salop’s last two defeats – a period in which five matches were played. The vibes round the club have been totally transformed into a potent blue and amber haze of positivity. Even so, a football team cannot be sustained on vibes alone, as the vagaries of player performance and fitness levels come into effect.

The most encouraging thing about the five wins on the bounce was that on occasion Salop had to dig deep to pull out a result: against Barrow because of the nervy pressures of a relegation six pointer; against Swindon and Notts County facing teams at the top end of the table; a precious away win at Accrington (the first since September); another away win at Salford, this time coming from behind. In the eighth game of Cowan tenure Salop have become a completely different proposition – evidenced by the fact that Walsall did not brush Town aside but had to execute a disciplined gameplan to tough out a valuable win. However, even in the wake of a defeat, the best record over the last six League Two matches still belongs to Shrewsbury Town.