SHREWSBURY TOWN 0 CITY 1
League Division 2
4th April 1989
attendance 8,271
Scorer Morley(88)
Ref C Trussell
City Cooper, Megson, Hinchcliffe, Gayle, Lake, Redmond, White, Morley, Biggins, Oldfield, Gleghorn – subs Bradshaw(70), I Brightwell(unused)
Shrewsbury Perks, Green, Pittman, Kelly, Pratley, Finlay, Brown, McNally, McGinlay, Melrose, Thomas
FROM THE PRESS BOX
CYNTHIA BATEMAN WRITING IN THE GUARDIAN 5TH APRIL 1989
You simply never know with City: One minute they are on the up and the next they throw a wobbly. An 88th minute goal last night saved them from another rash act of charity towards a club in the relegation zone, and kept afloat their hope of automatic promotion.
City had won only one of their last four games, going down to the relegation threatened Brighton on Saturday. They can throw away points as easily as a gambler loses gambling chips.
Although Shrewsbury had been pinned in their own half for most of the match after the interval, they hardly deserved to be pushed farther into the mire by this City side of grand pretensions to promotion but doubtful legitimate claim.
City had one of their rare opportunities to go ahead in the opening couple of minutes when Paul Lake, with more talent than most, slipped the ball through to White, but Pratley diverted his shot. Shrewsbury, stung, replied with a long range shot from Melrose, which Cooper had no difficulty In collecting.
And that was the sum total of the action, or rather lack of it, until the second half when two crosses by Wayne Biggins, back from injury, gave City shots, which were cleared off the line first by Green, and then by Pitman.
Before Shrewsbury’s largest crowd of the Season, 8,271, the home side disappointed until their substitute Vic Kaslui, fined and transfer-listed along with team mate Alan Irvin, yesterday for unspecified breaches of club discipline, came close to scoring.
The crowd had little to entertain them until two minutes from time when Carl Bradshaw, who replaced David Oldfield in the 67th minute, centred from the left to give Trevor Morley, the winning header, to send them home throughly miserable.
But the goal saved City’s manager Mel Machin from another tight-lipped exit from a ground. Shrewsbury, meanwhile, stay poised for a very cold plunge into the waters of the Third Division.