Shrewsbury 0 Barnsley 3: Sam's the man as Reds march on
Lee Johnson’s men nailed a fourth away win of an up-and-down campaign in super style thanks to strikes from Sam Winnall (two) and Alfie Mawson.
It was a dream first half for the Reds, who dominated throughout and were great value for a 2-0 interval lead.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWinnall had already seen a header cleared off the line by Junior Brown before he did break the deadlock in the 15th minute.
It was a route-one strike, with the former Scunthorpe hit-man latching on to a long clearance from ‘keeper Adam Davies before smashing home from just inside the Shrewsbury box.
Six minutes later Winnall bagged his second goal of the game, and his 12th of the season so far.
This time he simply charged at the heart of the Shrews’ defence, which seemed to back off, so Winnall again drilled home confidently.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe returning Marley Watkins had a ‘goal’ ruled out for offside shortly after as the Reds were threatening to run riot.
Three minutes before the break Mickey Mellon’s Shrews were handed a potential lifeline when James Bree tugged Andy Mangan in the box and referee Mr Gibbs awarded a penalty.
However, Davies dived brilliantly to save Mangan’s disappointing spot-kick.
It was a more pedestrian start to the second half, though it was the Reds who again threatened first when skipper Conor Hourihane curled a smart free-kick narrowly wide just before the hour mark.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn the 70th minute Winnall almost completed his hat-trick when his angled strike crashed into the side-netting.
It was 3-0 two minutes later, with defender Mawson registering his fifth goal of the season.
He pounced at the second attempt to stab home after Hourihane’s corner-kick wasn’t cleared by the dejected Shrews’ defence.
Shrewsbury (3-5-2): Halstead; Gerrard, Whitbread, Knight-Percival; Grimmer, Clark, Black, Cole, Brown; Vernon, Mangan.Subs: Leutwiler, Wellens, Wallace, Vassell, Whalley, Akpa-Akpro, Grandison.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBarnsley (4-4-1-1): Davies; Bree, Mawson, Long, A White; Brownhill, Isgrove, Hourihane, Hammill; Watkins; Winnall.
Subs: Townsend, Roberts, R Williams, Fletcher, Abbott, H White, G Williams.
Referee: Phil Gibbs (West Midlands).