Goals from Tyreece John-Jules, Conor Chaplin and Kayden Jackson saw top-of-the-table Town to a comfortable 3-0 victory at Shrewsbury and four wins on the trot for the first time since September and October 2019. The Blues, who remain a point clear at the top of League One, went ahead in the 22nd minute when John-Jules created himself a brilliant first goal for the club, then Chaplin added the second seven minutes after the restart and sub Jackson netted the third in injury time.

Town boss Kieran McKenna made five changes from the team which won 1-0 at Burton on Tuesday.

Cameron Burgess, Kane Vincent-Young, Leif Davis, Chaplin and John-Jules all started with George Edmundson, Jackson, Greg Leigh, Sone Aluko and former Shrews loanee Freddie Ladapo dropping to the bench.

There was still no place in the 18 for Wes Burns, who suffered a groin injury in the warm-up ahead of last week’s 3-0 home win against the MK Dons, or Dominic Ball, still not quite ready to return from the ankle problem he suffered in pre-season.

Burgess was at left centre-half with Davis the wing-back on that side and Vincent-Young on the other with Chaplin returning as one of the number 10s alongside Marcus Harness, who has scored three goals in his last three league games, behind John-Jules, who was the lone central striker on his full league debut for the Blues.

Shrewsbury’s XI included former Town loanee Matthew Pennington at the heart of the defence.

The Blues, in their black and red away kit in a competitive game for the first time, won a corner on the left in the third minute which Burgess stooped to nod wide at the near post.

Town were astonishingly not awarded a penalty in the sixth minute when skipper Sam Morsy found Vincent-Young breaking into the right of the box with a superb pass.

The former Colchester man took the ball down having broken behind the Shrews backline and seemed certain to score until being upended by Tom Flanagan’s wild, two-footed lunge from behind.

It was a penalty as obvious as they come but referee Neil Hair, a late replacement for Will Finnie, somehow saw otherwise opted to wave away the lengthy Blues protests.

Town quickly threatened again, Harness cutting a cross back from the right which home keeper Marko Marosi claimed.

The Blues had controlled the opening quarter without creating a further opportunity, however, on 16 Morsy was shown the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Tom Bayliss.

Six minutes later the Blues went in front via a brilliant John-Jules goal, his first for the club.

The on-loan Arsenal man won the ball midway inside the Shrews’ half by outmuscling their captain Luke Leahy, turned and took it forward into the area, feinting past Chey Dunkley, who he left in a heap on the floor, before confidently slipping to the left of Marosi.

Lengthy celebrations involving the players on the field and the substitutes warming up on the left touchline ensued.

Town continued to control the game, then on 34 Blues keeper Christian Walton, a spectator up to now, turned his way past a Shrews attacker inside his area causing a little anxiety among Town supporters, before a ball was played forward to John-Jules, who attempted to lay back to Harness first time with his thigh, however, a defender intervened.

Five minutes later, Walton was unable to deal with a corner from the right, the keeper strenuously arguing that he had been impeded, and he may have had a point, but the Blues were able to clear in any case.

Shrewsbury were showing a bit more going forward and in the 44th minute Jordan Shipley sent over a deep cross from the left beyond Walton but Pennington was unable to direct his header goalwards.

That was the last action of the half, the Blues having been well on top for the most part and worth of the lead John-Jules’s excellent goal had given them.

Why they hadn’t already had the opportunity to go ahead from the penalty spot was perplexing with the foul on Vincent-Young as obvious as they come.

While the Blues had been very much on top, Shrewsbury certainly weren’t out of it having caused Town problems on a couple of occasions towards the break.

The Blues were forced to defend an early free-kick from the right, which Vincent-Young cleared, the ball into the box initially having hit Janoi Donacien.

But the game quickly returned to the pattern of the first half and on 51 Leahy was booked for a foul on Evans on halfway.

And from the resultant free-kick the Blues doubled their lead. Davis ended a lengthy spell of possession by cutting inside and playing the ball across to Chaplin on the edge of the area, from where the forward hit a shot which took a deflection and nestled in the corner of the net to Marosi’s left.

The former Pompey man, who celebrated with his teammates in front of the Town fans behind the goal, had been given far too much space and showed his now customary predatory finishing. It was a thoroughly deserved goal with Chaplin having been one of the Blues’ most impressive performers.

Town repelled a rare Shrewsbury attack down the left, then at the other end Davis crossed and found Vincent-Young, who acrobatically volleyed over.

Just after the hour mark, the game was held up for a lengthy spell as Burgess underwent treatment for a cut to the head on the field, the former Australian U23 international continuing with a black bandage around his head.

Morsy curled over from the edge of the box in the 68th minute following a long spell of Town possession on the right, then Shrewsbury seriously threatened for the first time since the break, Julien Dacosta receiving the ball wide on the right at a tight angle before shooting into Walton’s arms.

The Shrews made a triple change in the 73rd minute with Ryan Bowman, Charlie Caton and Tom Bloxham taking over from Rekeil Pyke, Dan Udoh and Julien Dacosta, then a minute later Town switched goalscorer John-Jules, who was warmly applauded as he made his way past the Blues support as he made his way off, and Vincent-Young for Jackson and one-time Shrews loanee Ladapo.

Town maintained their dominance looking very comfortable against a Shrewsbury side resigned to defeat. On 78 Evans headed wide from a cross from the right, then two minutes later the Blues made two more changes, Aluko and Kyle Edwards taking over from Chaplin and Harness.

Ladapo, still looking for his first Town goal, swept a low shot straight at Marosi in the penultimate scheduled minute as the Blues continued to dominate.

In injury time, Jackson made it 3-0. After good work from Aluko, Davis laid it off for Morsy to hit a low shot which was blocked on the line and Jackson followed up to grab his first goal of the season, putting the game even further out of Shrewsbury’s reach.

Late on, George Nurse crossed from the left and Pennington headed straight at Walton, leading to sarcastic cheers from some sections of the home support.

A very comfortable and comprehensive victory for Town with the win never really looking in any doubt, the Blues having been in control from start to finish and making the dominance count with the three goals, John-Jules’s opener the pick.

The Blues stay top a point clear of Peterborough with a home game against Barnsley next Saturday.

Shrewsbury: Marosi, Leahy (c), Pennington, Udoh (Bloxham 73), Pyke (Bowman 73), Bayliss, Dunkley, Nurse, Shipley, Dacosta (Caton 73), Flanagan. Unused: Moore, Burgoyne, Craig, Barlow.

Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Vincent-Young (Jackson 74), Evans, Morsy (c), Davis, Chaplin (Aluko 80), Harness (Edwards 80), John-Jules (Ladapo 74). Unused: Hladky, Edmundson, Leigh. Referee: Neil Hair (Cambridgeshire). Att: 6,556 (Town: 1,343).

Photo: Pagepix

martin587 added 17:45 - Aug 20 Phenomenal support as usual.Every away game will be hard but once again we dug deep and showed our superiority throughout the team.Even with changes we still have a very good understanding just like fitting a jigsaw together.Good to see our strikers getting on the score sheet.The Boss has got us like a well oiled engine.Well done lads.I'm getting used to these long drives back to Southend with a smile on my face.Long may it last.

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joyousblue added 17:52 - Aug 20 I'm in disbelief at some people who claim to be experts I'm normally home and away to all games but couldn't go away today , so I got the odd chance to listen to radio Suffolk, what a joke , some idiot comes on and I'm being polite , he admitted he hasn't seen a live game this season cos of holidays in Spain and being very busy , but he has seen the odd highlight , and with that he started to proceed to list all the things that are still wrong , we don't hassle the opposing goalkeeper enough , and we need to improve on this and that How the heck does he know if he doesn't see a game but a 5 minute highlight , I would laugh , but I'm furious that tw## was allowed to go on and on unchallenged. ,, I just hope your on here so I can say shut up you waste of time tw##

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therein61 added 18:17 - Aug 20 3 more points well done you boys keep em coming.
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buckleshamblue60 added 18:18 - Aug 20 Ref totally bottled it with the foul on KVY which should have been a penalty and a red card - he was close to it and looking straight at it. Didn't matter though, fortunately.
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Orraman added 18:24 - Aug 20 Can we please stop going on about the need to sign another striker. With Ladapo and John-Jules we have two energetic, athletic strikers with a good bit of presence about them whose game is to hassle and press defences and open up opportunities for other attack minded colleagues to exploit and so far the goals are spread amongst the team. Even if Freddie and JJ are not prolific scorers they will chip in with a few. Although these two are nowhere near the level of the legendary Paul Mariner, as one poster quoted earlier in the week, there was one season when Paul only scored 9 goals and only 3 were in the league the rest being in Europe. It is therefore not essential we have a 20+ striker but continue to capitalise on the fear amongst defences scared of the havoc caused by whichever of our 2 centre forwards is in the team

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Nomore4 added 18:28 - Aug 20 Roll on V Barnsley…..
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Burley4ever added 18:40 - Aug 20 Great result!! BUT Bolton are the only top team in this division we have played yet so don't get too excited as we will have the likes of Derby, Peterborough, Portsmouth and Wednesday to come. They will be more of a challenge but if our momentum continues then we should be okay.
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GTRKing added 18:46 - Aug 20 Great result away from home with 3 points, Yes we will loose a few games and draw a few, so don't get to carried away yet But we need to win all our home games & try out best away from home, we should easily make top 6 this season maybe top 2 who knows
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carsey added 18:52 - Aug 20 @joyousblue I couldn't agree more about the Radio Suffolk caller and he's far from the first. I messaged them to express my point of view and asked why they give air time to people who start by saying they haven't seen the game or at least cut them off. @Burley4ever I said something similar to my mate last week that we will know where we really are after we have played Portsmouth at the beginning of October but that said for now we have to enjoy what is happening. COYB

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Telford_Blue added 18:54 - Aug 20 Thought it was men v boys this afternoon. Apart from a volley in the 94th minute and one cross in the first half which he missed, walton could have done the crossword this afternoon. He is, as McKenna said really improving his distribution and gets more of the ball for that. As daft as it sounds after X clean sheets I still feel that we have work to do at the back. I think against more ruthless teams we could end up being punished as at times we do play ourselves into trouble and to be fair to Shrewsbury, in the second half they did work two or three good moves, especially down our right. David was better today and JD was as composed as ever. To be fair to burgess he nullified their threat in the air and when woollfy took the ball off Udoh early on that was that contest over!! Moray and Evans are superb, morsy is not a league 1 player! Up top great goal from john-jules, chappers was great again, harness worked hard for little reward. As for the replacements, I know he scored but Jackson still does not have my total confidence yet. Aluko set up goal 3 and edwards did nothing wrong. It was a short trip for me today unlike last week v MK but this is the most I've enjoyed town since burley and I was a big Paul cook fan. I must concede that McKenna is different gravy and long mat this bubble stay unburst. COYB.

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Telford_Blue added 18:56 - Aug 20 Davis
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RobsonWark added 19:06 - Aug 20 And still people on here say we need a 20+ goal scorer despite the team banging in gaols in preseason and the 5 league matches so far this season. We are scoring goals. That's the way the team is set up so that multiple players get in on the action.
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RobsonWark added 19:20 - Aug 20 Besides I'd rather we spent money on buying 2 decent centre halves or Walton will have to have a 10/10 star performance when we play the top teams in this division. How many times have our centre halves made sloppy mistakes or just poor defending. We would not be top of the league if Walton had been injured.
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ShropshireBluenago09 added 19:40 - Aug 20 Dominant in all areas. Awesome display, John Jules looks a fantastic addition. The difference is the investment and the calm, professional management of McKenna.
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Cadiar added 19:56 - Aug 20 I wasn't at the game & can't listen to it on Radio Suffolk unfortunately. A 3-0 away win is excellent however there still the idiots on here like Bromley Blue or whatever his name is saying we needed to up our game after a first half we edged. I've just seen the stats, virtually total dominance, 68% possession, 12 shots on target, an incredible pass rate & accuracy. The next moans will be about the colour of Woolfie's boots or something equally banal. I'm delighted with everything about us at the moment, also with KM & his interviews which are so much better than any manager since Burley. I'm not sure he is rotating the players, it seems to me he analyses the opposition & picks the team accordingly. Anywayim a very happy chappy.0

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Dissboyitfc added 19:59 - Aug 20 joyousblue couldn't agree more, i was cringing and thinking get this .... off! PATHETIC PERSON!
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Billericay12 added 20:06 - Aug 20 Total domination. We looked a different level to Shrewsbury and we are with the squad we have. Cracking goal by John Jules and the work ethic in the team out of possession is our biggest strength. The rotation policy has worked so far. No doubt it will go wrong occasionally but you have to trust Kmk based on his record so far. COYB
6

IpswichToon added 20:53 - Aug 20 Why does iFollow commentary keep calling us The Super Blues? Since when was that the club's nickname?
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Eeyore added 21:24 - Aug 20 I got a seat right on the half way line. If you were in the ‘north stand' you might have thought that there might be a bit of noise from the other end that was perhaps drowned out by your singing. Well I can tell you, from where I was, I couldn't see or hear any Shrews singing. Yes a drum started up but I have never been to a match with no home supporters making a noise. The Ipswich supporters have definitely improved their singing since I first went to a match in the 1970s! Keep it up!

1

blueboy1981 added 21:25 - Aug 20 Let's keep things in proportion shall we ? - many running away with themselves already - but there is some hefty opposition snapping at our Heels in this League 1 Table right now - and some much tougher games ahead, not to mention Peterboro' with one Jack Marriott as well as others on the Goal trail already. A Good Start - Yes, but it HAS to be maintained to stay where we are currently. One slip up, and the whole picture will change so very quickly….. !!! So, let's ENJOY ! - but with an Eye over that Shoulder… !l!

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Eeyore added 21:59 - Aug 20 About the match: Shrews were a very poor team (perhaps that's why it was so quiet). We dominated the whole match. On the rare occasions they got the ball, we bullied them off the ball within seconds. If we gave it away, we got it straight back. Nice to see Davis gain a bit of confidence with his assist for the second. Before that, he really was having a mare, and head was down. Chaplin was fantastic again. Morsy was also outstanding. He looks after the ball so well. He doesn't do anything fancy, he just makes himself available, protects it, gets it to a teammate, then moves. Evans now looks established and confident so Ball will only get a look-in if there's an injury. Jackson got a tap-in which will hopefully spur him on to better things. Great shape to the team and nearly all the players look a league above this one. Still worried about Ladapo. His finishing was poor again today. He seems to be freezing in front of goal. He looks terrified. Perhaps he needs a tap-in too. Pretty sure the Shrews are going down this season so we shouldn't get too excited about this one I suppose.

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warktheline added 22:06 - Aug 20 Just reiterating last weeks comment , we are going up this season…..it's the amalgamation of new owners, a young hungry ambitious manager, and the removal of ‘our losing mentality' which had set itself deep rooted from top to bottom! Good riddance to those dark depressive years under an uncaring owner, an assortment of hapless managers, and free wheeling players!
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Help added 22:09 - Aug 20 For those of you who cannot listen to Radio Suffolk. Download Radio United Kingdom on your phone and you CAN listen to radio Suffolk anywhere.
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Dissboyitfc added 22:13 - Aug 20 yes we will face better teams but we are a work in progress and we will improve of that you can be sure! Enjoy, been a while coming but we are on the up, at last!
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BromleyBloo added 22:22 - Aug 20 McK: “I do think we can play better. In the first half, the level wasn't where we wanted it to be, there were too many early turnovers when we got into their half of the pitch. “We spoke about that at half-time and we improved in the second half, to be fair, and that gave us a new level of control and we certainly created more chances off the back of some good play.”

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