Shrewsbury Town 1 – 0 Latics: Latics run out of luck and out of puff

New Meadow is one of the many grounds where Micky Mellon gets a generous round of applause as the opposition manager…where once he was the home favourite, the man who led the club to that promotion back in the day.

Mellon acknowledges their generosity, then sets about his business of ruining their afternoon. For once, he did not succeed.

Shrewsbury Town 1

Boyle 30

Latics 0

The near 1,700 Latics fans were audible 15 minutes before the game, enjoying this nothing-to-lose play-off challenge. It’s nigh on 20 years since they’ve been as enthusiastic about their football as they are right now. Alas, a tired Latics side succumbed to only their second defeat in 14 games since the start of February, probably saying goodbye to any outside chance they had of making the League Two play-offs.

It was a dreadful game all in all. Mike Fondop had Latics first real chance on 20 minutes through a classic near-calamity. Matthew Cox in the Shrewsbury nets attempted a clearance that went straight at Fondop three yards away. Fondop may well have scored had he not nearly caught the ball as it flew at his face. It was an ugly summation of an ugly game.

Six minutes later, Josh Hawkes gave Kai Payne a much clearer opportunity. Hawkes’s persistence led to a cross from the right edge of the area near the byline. He found Payne, who was ahead of his marker on the edge of the six-yard line. Payne sent it wide for a goal kick.

Jamie Robson’s foul on Ismeal Kabia on the half hour was well worthy of the warning he got from the referee – an old fashioned left-back’s introduction to a right-winger – and the free kick led to the goal. Manny Monthé cleared the initial long diagonal into the box, but it fell to Taylor Perry on the edge of the area, who hooked it back into the mixer. Will Boyle still had a lot to do with the header from near the penalty spot, but powered it beyond Mat Hudson’s left hand and flush into the bottom corner.

When Gray fouled Drummond on the halfway line, Latics had a chance to throw a long diagonal right back at Shrewsbury, but Woods’s free kick barely got off the ground. It bobbled to Josh Hawkes, who attempted a cross into the area after exchanging passes with Pett. It was slow and indirect, imprecise, scruffy. 

Shrewsbury had the ball in the net seconds later when they broke right through the centre of the Latics defence. A tidier side would not have let Latics off by straying offside.

Perhaps there was nothing Mellon could say at half time to get a different, more harmonious tune out of his players. Whatever he said, Latics were as sluggish and uninspired in the second half as they were in the first. If they were going to score, they were going to luck the ball into the net…but then luck deserted them. Drummond brought a brilliant save out from Cox, diving to his left to shovel it away for a corner. Woods put the corner right down his throat, but the ball came loose. Latics claimed it crossed the line in the scramble, as did the travelling 1,700 behind the goal. The TV replays were inconclusive, but the officials can’t give a goal on the balance of probabilities.

When Latics finally got a corner over the first man again on 76 minutes, the keeper cleared to Jaló, whose overhead kick from 12 yards came back off the post.

A minute later, Drummond spurned a golden chance to equalise, smashing it high wide and handsome from five yardsafter Latics fashioned the chance through pure attrition.

And that was pretty much that. Latics went weirdly quiet for the remainder of the game. They were out of ideas, out of luck and, perhaps most importantly, out of puff. The pitch looked like a bowling green when Shrewsbury had the ball, and like a wild meadow when Latics had it.

Shrewsbury did all the usual tricks to take time out of the game, but they were over-elaborating. They could have just given the ball to Latics who, despite their very best endeavours, were on a hiding to nothing.

Shrewsbury Town: Matthew Cox, Will Boyle, Taylor Perry, Iwan Morgan (Anthony Scully 85), Ismeal Kabia, Josh Ruffels, Sam Stubbs, John Marquis (c), Kevin Berkoe, Will Gray (Nick Freeman 79), Bradley Ihionvien (George Lloyd 80)

Subs not used: Will Brook, Mal Benning, Tom Anderson, Tommy McDermott

Latics: Mat Hudson, Tom Pett (c), Donervon Daniels (Dynel Simeu 56), Manny Monthé, Ryan Woods, Mike Fondop, Kane Drummond, Will Sutton, Josh Hawkes (Fábio Jaló 62), Jamie Robson, Kai Payne (Joe Garner HT)

Subs not used: Tom Donaghy, Jake Leake, Kane Taylor, Oli Hammond