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).