Salford City suffer FA Cup disappointment against Shrewsbury
- Salford City were unable to reach second round of FA Cup after losing to Shrewsbury
- Win would have marked just second time the club had reached later stage
- Managerless Shrewsbury turned in a dominant performance
Salford City missed out on the chance to reach the second round of the FA Cup for the second time in their history after losing 3-1 in a replay against Shrewsbury Town.
The fixture looked like a potential giant killing before the match, with Salford flying high in the Conference Premier while Shrewsbury struggle towards the bottom end in League One. The presence of BT Sport’s cameras only added to the anticipation.
In the first leg (a 1-1 draw) Salford looked anything but a team two leagues below their opponents and might even have been considered favourites prior to the match.
After going 17 games unbeaten in the league and doing well to draw at Shrewsbury to earn the replay, the home side will be disappointed they could not trouble the visitors enough.
In truth, the gap in quality was evident tonight between the two sides. From the kick off Shrewsbury looked in control and had the better of the chances.
Managerless Shrewsbury, who sacked boss John Askey following the first leg, dealt with the occasion well and deservedly booked their place in the next round.
The away side started brightly and, shortly after Norburn had gone close, it was not long before Fejiri Okenabirhie struck home from close range after a corner.
A brilliant solo effort from Rangers loanee Greg Docherty, who drove through the left side of Salford’s defence to score from a seemingly impossible angle, consolidated their lead.
Salford’s best spell came in the last 15 minutes. Adam Rooney eventually capitalised on a short period of dominance to score his 17th of the season.
However, the hosts were unable to find a second and Shrewsbury sealed the win in stoppage time thanks to a second from Okenabirhie, who tapped in following a shot by Laurent.
Following the game, Shrewsbury fan Jacob said: “It was quite dull match really until the last 15 minutes but we did what we needed to do professionally and probably could have won by more.”
“They [Salford] are obviously too good for the league they’re in but I thought tonight they were worse than I expected.”
Shrewsbury will go on to host Scunthorpe United in the second round.