Stretched to the limit.

8 November 2025: Crewe Alexandra 3, Shrewsbury Town 1.

Crewe: Booth; Finney (Hutchinson 32’); Demetriou; Connolly; Billington; Thomas; Sanders [Y]; Agius (Bogle 87’ [Y]); Lunt; O’Reilly (Holicek 74’); Tezgel.

Unused substitutes: Mingi; Moult; Rankine; Waller.

Scorers: Lunt (21’); O’Reilly (56’); Bogle (90’+3).

Shrewsbury: Brook; Boyle [Y]; Stubbs [Y] (Anderson 64’); Hoole [Y]; Clucas; Ruffels; Kabia (Aneke 78’); Scully (McDermott 78’); Lloyd; Perry (Marquis 63’).

Unused substitutes: Benning; England; Harrison.

Scorer: Ruffels (29’).

Match officials: Referee – Mr T Reeves; Assistants – Mr R Aldred & Mr J Hunt; Fourth – Mr D Watson.

Attendance: 6,614.

Last Friday afternoon me and my Kindle casually popped into a Shrewsbury pub that features in Camra’s 2026 Good Beer Guide (what with my reputation!). In the lounge was a Salop fan that has the distinction of once having worked with my dad. Inevitably we had a brief conversation about the ‘State of the Town’ and were happy to conclude that whilst not out of the – rather dense – woods, things seemed to have improved over the last month or so. “The problem is,” I told him, “even if we might be getting used to not losing all the while, there are dangers in assuming we’re better than we really are”.

If that was the real ale talking, then the following day’s visit to Crewe showed the accumulated wisdom that each cask conditioned pint contains. Courtesy of Sky Sports, this was a local derby that now had a journey starting time that necessitated an early morning rush and ensured the match day body clock had all the accuracy of a Sam Cosgrove in front of goal. Consequently, it was well before noon that we had gone through the bag checks and body scanning routine required to gain admittance to the Mornflake (millers of mighty oats since 1675) Stadium. When I first went to watch Salop play at this ground it went by the more mundane name of Gresty Road and consisted of terraces with the steepness of a patio and main stand of red painted wood with bench seating and a pitch side paddock for standing supporters. A decade of relative success, which saw the club reach the heights of the Championship, saw a transformational redevelopment into a neat, unpretentious, 10,000 all seat venue, with nearly seventy percent of the capacity housed in the towering cantilever main stand.

Despite the four sides of the ground having been redeveloped to modern standards, there is still the close to the action feel that characterised the small stadiums of yore. This was very much the case for us as our tickets were for the second row of the away supporters’ seating in the Whitby Morrison stand. Whitby Morrison is not a relative of the ubiquitous Clinton Morrison, but a local company that boasts of being the world’s leading manufacturer of ice cream vans. The fact that this naming rights sponsorship is just over four years into a ninety-nine-year deal suggests the company is not expecting the demand for their vans to melt away any time soon.

Having called on the more experienced members of his squad to neuter the FA Cup ambitions of South Shields’, Michael Appleton’s team selection reverted to the 3-4-3 formulae that had been the foundation of a four-match unbeaten run in the league. John Marquis dropped back down to the bench so George Lloyd could lead the line. Luca Hoole returned to the back three at the expense of Tom Anderson. Josh Ruffels kept his place in the midfield, with Taylor Perry being pushed up field, taking Tommy McDermott’s place in the attack. Salop’s head coach had hinted about there being two or three injury doubts, but the two players that had picked up knocks up north – Sam Clucas and Tom Sang – retained their places in the starting lineup. At times Salop’s squad appears very small.

The match opened with neither side finding any joy in a toothless aerial bombardment. Crewe used to have a reputation for playing passing football but for the initial stages of the game they seemed content to test the visitor’s prowess in defending the high ball. Salop responded in kind, but the home side’s central defence seemed well equipped to deal with this and very quickly established air superiority; George Lloyd, for once, was having no joy in his attempts to challenge for the ball in the air, his jumps being easily contained by Crewe’s defenders.

As the game developed the hosts started to show that swift passing movements up field was still a powerful weapon in their armoury and their front line had more than enough pace to put Salop’s heavy-footed defence under periods of unremitting pressure. Having been stretched, the visitors’ back line seemed to lose its suppleness and had all the tautness of aged elastic. A goal for the home side appeared inevitable and duly arrived on twenty-one minutes when Crewe found sufficient space in the Town box to stage a four pass move that ended with Owen Lunt having the time to curl the ball past Will Brook.

Despite Salop being most uncomfortable in defence, they looked a different team in attack with Ismeal Kabia, although playing down the field as right wing back, showing the pace and drive to offer a potent threat. The Arsenal loanee was instrumental in the build up to Town’s equaliser, receiving the ball out wide deep on the right, tacking into the centre and then supplying a pass to Ruffels, who was able to take a touch and execute a low shot from just outside the area that flew past the ‘keeper into the right side of the net. In his handful of appearances for Salop, the versatile midfielder has been quietly effective, doing the simple things with the unruffled efficiency of a manservant in the image of PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves. Few would have quibbled about Town deserving to be back on level terms, but the remaining minutes of the first period crawled by with the home side looking the more likely to add to the goal tally.

During the break the sun moved round to shine through the open corner of the ground, radiating unseasonal warmth toward the seats of the away supporters. (Anyone seen an ice cream van?) The downside of this was that the low sunshine made it difficult for not only the spectators to have a clear view, but at times even some of the players seemed to struggle picking up the ball. Crewe came out attack minded and the balance of play was firmly in the home side’s favour. The sun’s rays meant it was not always possible to discern what was happening in front of Town’s goal, which in many ways was just as well. Having survived an attempt that hit the goalpost, Crewe profited from a routine throw in on the left that was flicked into a hectare of space in front of Salop’s box. Tommi O’Reilly – the miniature winger whose career appears not to have been hindered by an unproductive half season loan at Croud Meadow – collected the ball and took it deep to the goal line fired the ball into the net from a narrow angle.

Buoyed by retaking the lead the home team attempted to wrap things up with a third goal. To Salop’s credit, in chasing the game they were able to build intermittent pressure and create scoring opportunities. Clucas seemed to have scored when set up by an Anthony Scully cross, only for the noise of the ball thudding against an advertising hording to indicate the shot was narrowly off target. Appleton brought on Marquis, McDermott and finally Chucks Aneke but none supplied the inspiration required to convert Salop’s punts forward into an equaliser. Stretching forward in search of that goal as the game entered time added on, Salop were caught with a sucker punch, with Crewe substitute Omar Bogle running on to a clearance and, despite the ineffective efforts of Anderson to dispossess him in front of goal, sealed the result with a third goal.

The restart of the match was delayed after an incident involving the assistant referee running the line in front of the away supporters. At the time it was unclear whether something had been thrown at the official, or whether he had been subjected to some form of abuse. If this was due to some thinking Bogle had been off-side in the build up to his goal, it was clear that he was on-side when the ball was played forward as he had not crossed the half-way line. Earlier a blue flare and what might have been a firework had been thrown onto the playing surface in front of the away fans. Being honest, the last thing Town needs in these straightened times is having to return some of its FA Cup prize money to the governing body in the form of fines to punish supporter misbehaviour.

Salop had enjoyed a good month with a run of five matches without defeat in all competitions, but this defeat is a reminder of the fragility of the recent recovery. On this performance Crewe looked a good side, pacy and inventive in attack and with a robust defence. They were sufficiently powerful to stretch Town’s modest resources to the limit. Other results squeezed Salop back into the relegation places, although five clubs immediately above are within three points. Whilst results have improved, Town are still in a vulnerable position because of the disastrous start to the season. A Crufts standard relegation dog fight still cannot be ruled out.