Eleven versus eleven.

10 January 2026: FA Cup third round – Wolverhampton Wanderers 6, Shrewsbury Town 1.

Wolves: Johnstone; Krejci; Bueno, Doherty; Moller Wolfe; Joao Gomes (Mane 61’); Andre [Y]; Arias (Pedro Lima 84’); Tchatchoua (Rodrigo Gomes 60’); Strand Larsen (Arokodare 74’); Hee-Chan (Fer Lopez 74’).

Unused substitutes: Bentley; Bueno; Chirewa; Mosquera.

Scorers: Strand Larsen (9’, 11’, 58’); Rodrigo Gomes (86’); Arokodare (90+2’).

Shrewsbury: Harrison; Boyle; Hoole; Anderson [Y]; Clucas; Ruffels [Y] (Loughran 75’); Perry; Kabia; McDermott; Morgan (Ogunsuyi 75’); Marquis.

Unused substitutes: Aneke; Benning; Brook; England; Gray; Lloyd; Stewart.

Scorer: Marquis (26’ pen).

Match officials: Referee – Mr S Martin; Assistants – Ms E Carney & Mr R Hyde; Fourth – Mr S Parkinson.

Attendance: 24,258.

Picture: Gary Bright

For clubs like Shrewsbury getting to the third round of the FA Cup is full of opportunities: the opportunity to play Premier League opposition; the opportunity to have a windfall with their share of the gate money; the opportunity to cause an upset. Unfortunately, for clubs like Shrewsbury, Exeter, Boreham Wood, Charlton Athletic and others, the outcome of reaching the third round of the FA Cup is a right stuffing by superior opposition and the opportunity to see their proper worth in that immoral pyramid that is English football. Still, all these clubs can suffer any pain in full knowledge of having the financial compensation of their share of the gate money. Unless, of course, they have also been stuffed by the host club’s ticket pricing policy. It is a bit like having drawn five numbers in the National Lottery only to find that all that has been won is a free lucky dip.

The vibes around this tie had been awful from almost the moment the numbered balls came out of the velvet bag; from the public spat about ticket prices to the suspension of train services between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton due to Storm Goretti. Salop’s collapse in form and confidence since the home match against Chesterfield was also a big part of it, not to mention the transfer window clear out of the squad, with out the clear in being anywhere near completed. Two loanee strikers have arrived, but Salop’s defence is about as threadbare some of the Union Flags fluttering from the lampposts around Meole Brace Island.

Reaching my seat in the away stand at Molineux Stadium one thing immediately struck me: the size of the playing surface, particularly the width of it. In comparison the open spaces of Croud Meadow look like a Post It note. Trying to summon the vision of how our three centre backs – manoeuvring with all the stateliness of a galleon – trying to frustrate premier league attacking footballers, with all the ball skills and pace that suggests, I could only envisage Will Brook picking the ball out his net a half-a-dozen or more times. Even if I sometimes wonder about what our player recruitment aimed to achieve, the one certain thing is that the squad was not constructed with the aim of beating premier league opposition on their own patch.

When the Salop team was announced there was a major surprise: Michael Appleton had decided that Elyh Harrison would be more adept at picking the ball out of his own net a half-a-dozen or more times than Will Brook. Given that it is reported that Harrison is about to be yanked back to Old Trafford like a pupil that has been expelled from a boarding school, there was little logic in the decision. It seem either a defensive move (Brook’s form has been somewhat brittle of late, so best not risk him losing even more confidence), or contractual (a clause in Harrison’s loan agreement that stipulates he must play in a match like this one). Here I will concede that the latter is desperate straw clutching for something remotely plausible.

In other news, Josh Ruffels had made a shock recovery and would start in place of Issac England, and new loanee striker Iwan Morgan would make his Salop debut taking the place of the injured Anthony Scully. The other new on-loan striker – Trey Ogunsuyi – was part of the nine-player bench allowed in the FA Cup. Also included, much to widespread bewilderment, was Calum Stewart who appeared very ‘cup-tied’ having scored penalties for Brackley Town in their defeat of Notts County live on terrestrial television. Never let anyone tell you that smartphones are a bad thing, as they provide the means to consult the FA Cup Competition Rules if you have accidentally left your own copy on the bedside table. These were recently changed to allow players to play for two different teams in anyone competition. This change was made after lobbying by the Premier League, who were attracted to the idea that they could loan players to two clubs in a season and for them to play in the FA Cup for both. (Nice to see the FA supporting the underdogs of the Premier League for a change.) The only restriction is that a player cannot play for different teams in the same round – although the scope for doing this in nigh on impossible now that replayed fixtures disappeared have also disappeared down the Premier League’s cavernous sinkhole.

The magic, no the romance, of the FA Cup is that it is a contest that does not respect reputation or wealth: it is simply eleven versus eleven. The underdog always has a chance of having its day. If the eleven of one side have an off day and the eleven of their opponents are inspired to play above themselves, then upsets are possible. Possible, but not likely. It must be remembered that most of what we call magic is simply an illusion; the art of distraction facilitated by smoke and mirrors.

Salop’s desire for anonymity saw them take the field in their pink change strip, with good reason. Eleven minutes into the game and the atmosphere in the lower tier was as icy as the Asda car park that abutted the stadium. The first two times Salop’s defence had been tested its inadequacy was made starkly apparent. Any suggestion of offside about the two goals conceded was an optical illusion caused by the interaction of pace with slowness. Those sons of the Black Country, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Jhon Arias, were not going to squander the glittering prizes that naturally follow from playing against inferior opponents.

For a spell in the first period there was a hint of a real cup tie emerging from the carnage of Wolves’ whirlwind start. Making a run forward John Marquis was fouled on the line of the penalty area by Arias and Mr Martin signalled the award of a spot-kick. Marquis – who spent last season demonstrating how not to take penalties – stepped up to the mark and executed a pitch perfect kick that sent Sam Johnstone the wrong way. Salop went on to force some corners and even had the temerity to have a shot on target cleared off the line. However, any twitches in the corpse of Salop’s FA Cup campaign disappeared on forty-one minutes when Harrison inexplicably passed the ball direct to Larsen, who gleefully accepted the Town ‘keeper’s invitation to move another third of the way towards a hattrick. It was a head-in-hands moment that would not have been eased by the impressive saves Harrison would make in the second half.

That, more or less, was that for the visitors. The second half highlight for Salop fans was the unleashing of Iwan Morgan’s incredible long throw. Ogunsuyi came on as a substitute and put himself about for fifteen minutes. Appleton added to the air of mystery about his substitutions by sending on Jack Loughran at the same time, even though it appears he is about to send the player out on loan again.

Meanwhile Larsen completed his hattrick – breaking a thirteen-match scoring drought. Aorkodare and Rodrigo Gomes then knocked in late efforts to spoil the afternoon of any Town fans that would have been content to settle for a 4-1 defeat. The home supporters savoured the moment of not being outplayed by a League Two team, with the good humour that distinguishes football fans everywhere. When some Town supporters unfurled a ‘Ronald Out’ bedsheet the South Bank began to sing the praises of the Salop chairman: he no doubt appreciated the sentiment but would appreciate an extra fiver from each of you even more.

At the end of the match Salop supporters trudged out of Molineux into the ice and snow, some of them suggesting like Captain Oates that they may be some time. Bruised pride can feel like humiliation, but it is nothing of the sort. Today’s sports pages are tomorrow’s fish and chip paper. Town had the misfortune of coming across that most dangerous of opponents – a wounded predator – and paid the full price. However much we try and deceive ourselves, deep down we all knew it was never going to be eleven versus eleven.