Winning double
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE SHREWSBURY TOWN STANLEY
ACCRINGTON Stanley made it back to back league victories as they earned an impressive win away from home against Shrewsbury Town.
Goals from Bobby Grant and Jordan Clark in each half were enough to earn Stanley all three points at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
It means that Accrington have climbed to 16th place in the League One table, leapfrogging Shrewsbury in the process, and manager John Coleman was full of praise for goalscorer Grant and the rest of his team for their efforts.
“You know what you’re getting out of Bobby. I’ve known him since he was a kid and he’ll give you his all,” he said.
“He ran himself into the ground.
“He was out on his feet when we took him off, but he’s got that quality and you can’t give him a yard on the edge of the box because he does find the target and that was a great strike.
“A great goal, a goal worthy of winning any game, but thankfully we got the second goal to make it a bit easier.
“I thought Shrewsbury upped their tempo in the second half and pinned us back – and we would have liked to have passed the ball better.
“I thought we played better in the first half against the wind, but both teams did to be honest.
“I thought both teams played better against the wind and I thought they came on strong in the second half and put a lot of balls in our box that we dealt with really well.”
It was Shrewsbury who had the first real chance of the game when Conor McAleny had a shot from distance, but he couldn’t get the effort on target. Accrington didn’t have the same issue, as they made the breakthrough on 13 minutes.
Grant has only recently returned to Stanley on loan from Wrexham, and he repaid the faith shown in him by manager Coleman by firing home from just outside the box to make it 1-0 to the away side.
Shrewsbury had chances to get back on level terms, first when Jason Cummings had a close range effort blocked in a crowded six yard box, before he then headed Scott Golbourne’s cross over the bar a few moments later.
The Stanley defence were able to hold firm, ensuring that they carried their 1-0 lead into the break.
Shrewsbury again tried to threaten at the start of the second half, with Cummings involved again as he saw an effort deflected wide.
Accrington boss Coleman turned to his substitutes to try and get some fresh legs on the pitch, bringing on Offrande Zanzala in place of Benny Ashley-Seal.
The change appeared to pay off, as two of Stanley’s most reliable players then combined to double Accrington’s lead.
Ross Sykes had an initial header saved by Ross Sykes, but Clark was on hand to turn in the rebound to make it 2-0.
Shrewsbury continued to push forward in search of a goal, but out of their 21 shots throughout the match, not a single one was on target, showing why the side are perhaps without a league win since December 21.
It meant that Stanley were able to hold on, securing a big win against one of their rivals in the bottom half of the table.