Saturday 24th September 2011
KO: 3pm
Back on the road after two consecutive games at Plainmoor, and our destination this time is to the Greenhous Meadow, home of Shrewsbury Town FC. Shrewsbury have started off very well and, after last weekends victory at local rivals Port Vale, they sit in 3rd place in the table. Many expect Shrewsbury to be promoted this year, after we ended their hopes last season, with that 2-0 aggregate victory over two legs. We've a good record against the Shrews, so I for one am hoping that we can continue it on Saturday!
GULLS NEWS.
I think everybody is fit and raring to go for this one. We've had the fortunes of having a week off, while our hosts were down in London on Tuesday to play out a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal, in the Carling Cup. Daniel Leadbitter is still on his way back to full fitness.
THE OPPOSITION.
As usual, I'll start with the manager, and that man is the experienced Graham Turner. Another manager with a wealth of lower league experience. A hero at Shrewsbury, having made 355 appearances for the Salop over a 10 year spell. Through those years, he took charge of the Shrews, between 1978 and 1984, before moving on to Aston Villa. Skipping through another decade, where he managed at Villa and Wolves, he took over at Hereford, where he stayed for 14 years. He left Hereford for the Shrews in 2010, and has been in charge at Greenhous Meadow ever since.
On the pitch then, and I'll start with the keepers. Their first choice keeper is Ben Smith. The 25 year old came through the Newcastle ranks, but failed to become a senior there, so he moved onto Doncaster. He spent 4 years at Doncaster, with loans out to Lincoln and Morecambe, before moving to Shrewsbury in 2010. His back up is Chris Neal, who has been at Greenhous Meadow since 2009. The former Preston keeper has made 29 appearances for the Salop.
Onto the back four then. At right back, we'll be likely to see Jermaine Grandison, who you all love. The youngster got sent off for a reckless lunge at Jake Robinson in our 5-0 demolition job of the Shrews in March. He joined the Salop in 2011. On the other side of defence will be Joe Jacobson. Jacobson was involved with us before, way back in November 2006. We were all set to sign him, but Chris Roberts failed to sanction the deal, so it didn't happen. Instead, he's been at Accrington, Bristol Rovers, Oldham, Accrington and now finds himself at Shrewsbury. In the heart of defence, the pairing at the Emirates was former Gull Reuben Hazell, who doesn't need much introduction. I'd expect him to get a warm reception. His partner was a youngster, Connor Goldson, who has made 3 appearances since turning pro at GM. Other options in defence are Ian Sharps and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, but I have a feeling both may be injured. Carl Regan provides back up for the full back positions.
Into the middle of the park, now. In the engine room, another former Gull, Nicky Wroe will take a place, and his partner on Saturday was Sean McAllister. Wroe has made a good impact on the side this year, fast becoming a key player for the Salop. His partner McAllister, who made 68 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday before joining Shrewsbury, has a fair bit of experience for his age. On the wings, it'll be likely that we'll be up against pacy wingers, in Mark Wright and Lionel Ainsworth. Wright is one of the best wingers in the division, in my opinion, and he chips in with a fair few goals aswell! A product of the Walsall youth system, he made 124 appearances for the Saddlers, before moving to MK Dons. He has spent spells at Brighton, Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury since then. Ainsworth, who played at Derby County in his youth, has been out on loan to numerous teams - he has only been permanently at Derby, Hereford, Watford, Huddersfield and now Shrewsbury, where he has made 42 appearances, scoring 10. Other midfielders at the club are Steven Leslie, who can play anywhere across the midfield, M a t t Richards, Luke Male, Ryan Woods and Jon Taylor, the Shrews own youth prospect who was one of their best players in the playoff games, I thought.
Finally, the attack line at the club seemed weakened by Matt Harrold leaving for Paul Buckle and Bristol Rovers. However, his replacement, Marvin Morgan has hit the ground running, scoring 7 in total, already. He scored a corker at Port Vale last Saturday, too. His partner on Tuesday was James Collins, who was on loan at the Salop last year. The former Aston Villa youngster scored their goal at the Emirates, and made the permanent move in the summer. Other strikers at the club are Tom Bradshaw, the other promising youngster from the youth system, and Terry Gornell, who moved from Accrington in the summer.
HOW THEY LINED UP.
Ben Smith
Jermaine Grandison
Reuben Hazell
Connor Goldson
Joe Jacobson
Mark Wright
Nicky Wroe
Sean McAllister (M a t t Richards 72)
Lionel Ainsworth (Jon Taylor 78)
James Collins (Tom Bradshaw 72)
Marvin Morgan
Subs: Neal, Leslie, Richards, Taylor, Bradshaw, Male.
REF WATCH.
CARL BERRY
Nick Hobbis and Robert Ellis
Fourth Official Wayne Barratt
Mr Berry is the man in the middle for this game. He has done 4 games, all at League 2 level this year, giving out 18 yellows and 1 red. He's fairly new to the refereeing scene, and he was in charge for our narrow 1-0 defeat at Aldershot in March last year, so any of you who were and can remember if he was any good (hard to remember, I know), that'd be helpful.
PREDICTION.
Even though they played on Tuesday, I just think our good run against the Shrews is about to end.
Shrews 3 - 1 Gulls.
EDIT: Had to edit the M a t t Richards name!
:no: 
:slap: 
