Comfortable win Long, May strike to see off the Shrews
GOALS either side of half-time from Sean Long and Alfie May earned Cheltenham a 2-0 home win over Shrewsbury.
In the final minute of a tightly-contested opening period, Long poked home from close range to break the deadlock after a long throw from Will Ferry was not dealt with by the Shrews.
Less than a minute into the second half, Ryan Jackson delivered a low cross from the right that was fired in off the crossbar by May - who was later sent off on a stretcher with an ankle injury.
The only save of note before Long’s opener was from Harry Burgoyne, who flew to tip over Lewis Freestone’s header from Jackson’s long throw in the 44th minute.
Ryan Broom had earlier thumped an effort just over from the edge of the box, and at the other end, Luke Southwood was largely untroubled in the Cheltenham goal and Dan Nlundulu was close to making it 3-0 in the 78th minute, rolling a shot just past the far post.
It was a welcome win for head coach Wade Elliott’s side in the first of five home games this month.
“I thought we were composed throughout really,” he said. “Games always ebb and flow and momentum can shift, but we did the basics really well throughout the 90 minutes.
“We looked calm, we didn’t look flustered. That’s been a message from early on. A learning from the early games of the season. So, aside from the obvious, which is the win, it’s another sign of progression.”
“We restricted them to very little. We knew it was going to be right, we knew it was going to be scrappy, but the most pleasing thing was that the players didn’t become fidgety or nervous.
“They did the things that we talked about, showed belief in themselves and in what they have been asked to do.”
Elliott was delighted with the nature of the two goals, the first coming from a set-piece - Ferry’s long throw.
“We’ve challenged them, the whole squad, to add more of a goal threat,” he said.
“Longy (Sean Long) is on the scoresheet now. We need to contribute goals from all different areas of the pitch. I am made up to get in front off a set piece.
“We have two, or three long throws in our armoury, so we’ll try and make as much capital out of it as we can and we won’t be football snobs about that.”
Elliott celebrated wildly after the second goal adding: “It was a really good goal. The timing of it, coming straight after the break, I obviously jumped around a bit did I?,” he said.
“It was a really good goal. We brought them under the press, missed them out at the right time, good awareness from Alfie (May), a composed cross from Jacko (Ryan Jackson) and a great finish, so good football.”
Shrewsbury had no shots on target, and Elliott said: “We defended really well.
“The back five or six obviously, but collectively, back to front, good shape and we looked compact and we were difficult to play against.
“If you are defending well as a team you are going to give yourselves a chance in games.
“The players were really calm and managed the game well.
“They were switched on, focused and it’s difficult for me to be calm.
“You are never totally comfortable, well I am not anyway. You just want to see the game out.
“I’ve been in the game long enough to know anything could happen.”
Cheltenham Town (3-5-2): Southwood; Long, Taylor, Freestone; Jackson, Bonds, Sercombe, Broom, Ferry; May (Perry 89), Nlundulu (Lloyd 84). Subs not used: Macdonald, Williams, Norton, Bradbury, Brown.
Shrewsbury Town (3-5-2): Burgoyne; Pennington, Dunkley, Flanagan (O’brien 86); Bennett (Dacosta 90), Winchester, Bayliss, Moore, Leahy; Saydee, Bowman (Pyke 67). Subs not used: O’brien, Street, Bloxham, Caton, Bevan.
Referee: Carl Brook.
Attendance: 3,842 (546 away).