Ipswich Town 2-0 Shrewsbury Town - Match Report Saturday, 18th Mar 2023 17:09 Town extended their winning run to six in a row and their clean sheet record to seven matches and 686 minutes, as goals from George Hirst and Massimo Luongo saw the Blues to a 2-0 victory over Shrewsbury at Portman Road. Hirst nodded his first home goal for the club on the quarter-hour with Luongo sealing the three points with his first since rejoining the club six minutes after the break. Boss Kieran McKenna named an unchanged side for only the third time this season, while there was one change on the bench with Kane Vincent-Young coming in for Janoi Donacien. Shrewsbury made one change from the team which beat Morecambe 3-1 last week with Elliott Bennett coming in for Tom Bayliss, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Former Town loanee Matt Pennington started in the Shrews' defence. Town, who last won six in a row in all competitions between the end of the 1998/99 season and the start of the following campaign and most recently did so in the league in the 1991/92 Second Division title season, started on the front foot, taking the game to the visitors but in the fourth minute Christian Walton had to be alert to a quick Shrewsbury break, coming a long way out of his goal to clear and subsequently making his annoyance with his caught-on-their-heels defence clear. From the resultant throw-in, Walton was in action again, superbly tipping over skipper Luke Leahy’s header from under the bar to his right from Pennington’s cross. But play quickly returned to the other end of the field with Harry Clarke first winning a corner, which led to a brief scramble in the box, then within a minute sending over a cross from the right which was just too long. Nathan Broadhead saw a shot blocked and Conor Chaplin the same following another corner with the confident and determined Blues piling on the pressure. On 12, Broadhead smashed a free-kick from not far outside the area into the wall after Luongo had been fouled following a corner. And, after a short respite for a visitors’ attack which came to nothing, Town’s pressure bore fruit in the 16th minute. Wes Burns beat Taylor Moore down the right, clipped over a cross and Hirst steered a header across Shrews’ keeper Marko Marosi and into the corner of the net, the on-loan Leicester man’s first home goal for the Blues and his second in a week provided by the Wales international. It was only the 18th goal conceded by Shrewsbury on the road this season and the Blues’ 6,000th as a professional club. Chaplin audibly smashed a free-kick into Chey Dunkley’s face from 25 yards as the game reached the 20-minute mark, the former Wigan man requiring a few seconds to recover his bearings before continuing. Within a minute, Jordan Shipley was booked for fouling Burns as the striker ran round the outside of him on the right. Leif Davis opted to shoot from a tight angle when a cross seemed the more obvious move but keeper Marosi was wise to it and claimed his well-struck shot. Town continued to dominate, passing the ball around slickly and at pace mainly in and around the penalty area, looking for the space to carve out another opportunity but with Shrewsbury stoically sticking to their defensive duties. On 37, Burns looped over a cross from the right and the unmarked Luongo headed powerfully just wide of Marosi’s left post. It was a decent chance the Australian international will feel he should have taken. Within a minute, there was a scare for the Blues at the other end, Rob Street clipping a dangerous ball to the edge of the Town six-yard box from the left, but Cameron Burgess deftly chested beyond the far post. In the 40th minute, Shrewsbury threatened again when Shipley was found in space on the left of the area. The former Coventry man’s first shot was cut out but the ball was returned to him and the midfielder struck a low strike which Walton saved at his near post. Moments later, Chaplin shot over for the Blues, then on 43 Rekeil Pyke was yellow-carded for a late tackle on Luke Woolfenden. As the half moved into two additional minutes, Luongo turned and shot from Davis’s pass but too close to Marosi, who saved sharply. The Blues were warmly applauded off at the whistle after another very impressive 45 minutes and having taken their all-time clean sheet record to 641 minutes. Town had done more than enough to be in front at the break, Hirst heading home in a manner not dissimilar to new Hall of Fame inductee Marcus Stewart’s Wembley 2000 goal, although from the other side. The Blues might well have been further ahead given their overall dominance, 69 per cent of the possession, most of it in the Shrewsbury half, illustrating how much they had been in control. However, Shrewsbury had showed a threat on a couple of occasions with Walton forced to make two very good saves. The Blues had the ball in the net for a second time five minutes after the restart. Morsy crossed from the right, Davis knocked it across the face and Chaplin turned in at the far post but with the linesman raising a flag. Davis’s cross might well have been going in, however, the flag appeared to have been raised against the ex-Leeds man, erroneously video evidence suggested. That point was rendered moot a minute later when Luongo scored a legitimate second. Chaplin took the ball cross the area from the right before hitting a shot which was blocked. The ball looped up into the path of the Australian, who volleyed into the corner of the net. It was the midfielder’s second goal for the Blues and the first for almost 11 years, the first having come in a League Cup tie at Carlisle in August 2012 during his loan spell with the club. The Sydney-born schemer last scored for anyone almost 12 months ago having netted for Sheffield Wednesday in March last year. Town almost went three in front in the 55th minute when Clarke made a direct run down the middle and the ball broke to Chaplin, who fed Hirst, the striker taking a touch and striking a shot which beat Marosi but hit the outside of the post. Two minutes later, there was a brief outbreak of handbags after Pennington fouled Broadhead and then shoved the Town forward claiming his fellow ex-Everton man had dived. A number of other players joined the melee but order was quickly restored and the former Blues loanee was booked. The Shrews made a double change in the 61st minute, Tom Bloxham and Christian Saydee replacing Street and Pyke. Two minutes later, Chaplin shot well over from distance. Dunkley headed through to Walton on 66 following a Shrewsbury corner on the left but with the keeper not overly tested. Two minutes later, Broadhead took the ball past Pennington inside the area on the left and looked to have been brought down. But referee Ollie Yates booked the Town attacker, deeming it a dive and there were few protests from Town players. On 72, Burns beat his man on the right but hit his cross too long and Davis could only divert the ball behind from a tight angle beyond the far post. While Shrewsbury prepared to take the goal-kick, Town swapped Hirst and Broadhead for Freddie Ladapo and Marcus Harness, while Ryan Bowman took over from Bennett for Shrewsbury. Almost immediately, Ladapo slammed a shot against a defender on the edge of the area. In the 78th minute, the visitors almost pulled a goal back from a corner. Walton was stopped from reaching the ball through a crowd of players and Dunkley headed against the bar. The ball ran loose and the referee gave a free-kick to the Blues but it looked like the header would have counted had it gone in. Walton was furious, feeling he had been fouled and then underwent treatment for a knock to the head while lying on the pitch, clearly in some discomfort. The Town keeper was eventually able to continue wearing a bandage around his head. In the 83rd minute, Saydee was booked for fouling Chaplin midway inside the Shrews half with keeper Marosi well out of his ground. Town were continuing to look for their third goal of the afternoon and in the 86th minute Ladapo took down a ball and hit a low shot wide. Burns was subsequently replaced by Kayden Jackson. As the match moved into the penultimate minute, Moore was booked for pulling back Harness. Seconds later, Luongo scraped a shot wide after working himself space in the area on the left. With the game in seven minutes of injury time, Moore blazed over for the Shrews, who unlike other recent opponents had by no means collapsed having gone behind. Town swapped Luongo and Chaplin for Kane Vincent-Young and the returning Dominic Ball for the final few minutes. The Blues saw out the remaining additional time with few real concerns, aside from Davis picking up a yellow card for dissent, to claim six wins on the bounce for the first time since 1999 and for the first time in the league since 1992. The clean sheet record extends to seven matches and 686 minutes. They have now netted 18 times since last conceding. Once the again excellent Luongo netted Town’s second, there was never any real doubt where the points would be going. The Blues had chances to score more, but Shrewsbury made them work for their win and never looked like capitulating in the manner of some other sides at Portman Road this season. It was a game which the Blues might have found tougher earlier in the season but McKenna's side full of confidence and on a roll are now a different prospect than even a few weeks ago. Plymouth’s 2-0 home victory over Forest Green Rovers means Town remain two points behind the second-placed Pilgrims, while Barnsley in fourth stay six points off the Blues with two games in hand after a 1-0 win at Wycombe. Leaders Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 at home to sixth-placed Bolton last night. Meanwhile, captain Morsy again avoided his 10th yellow card of the season with it now taking 15 for the Egyptian international to serve a ban. Town have a free weekend next week with the game away against the Tykes postponed due to international calls with the next fixture a trip to fifth-placed Derby, who were beaten 2-0 at Fleetwood today, in a fortnight. Town: Walton, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Burns (Jackson 86), Morsy (c), Luongo (Vincent-Young 90), Davis, Chaplin (Ball 90), Broadhead (Harness 74), Hirst (Ladapo 74). Unused: Hladky, Edwards. Shrewsbury: Marosi, Leahy (c), Pennington, Moore, Winchester, Street (Saydee 61), Pyke (Bloxham 61), Bennett (Bowman 74), Dunkley, Shipley, Flanagan. Unused: Burgoyne, Craig, Barlow. Referee: Ollie Yates (Staffordshire). Att: 26,432 (Shrewsbury: 343).
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