Shrewsbury 0 County 2

Our first ever victory at The New Meadow or The Croud Meadow or whatever’s it’s called takes us back into the play-offs

Oct 03, 2024

Thursday 3 October 2024

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Shrewsbury supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Thursday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

It’s always a pleasure to have Mozzer joining us to report on a midweek County away win (strong 90s The Tea Party vibes) and thanks to Shrewsbury fan Jack as well who probably had much better things to do than write about his side’s performance on Tuesday night for a Stockport County website. Like the washing-up. Or a prostate exam.

As I click publish on today’s edition, I’m heading off to the seaside for the second consecutive night. Yesterday I was in Blackpool; tonight it’s Southport. If you’re in the area and fancy a giggle and a Guinness, I’m at Connolly’s Irish Pub from 7pm.

Today’s edition is sponsored by Conexus Tuition Cheadle Hulme, Handforth & Wilmslow, joining The Scarf My Father Wore family for the first time! A big thank you to Lauren.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 176.31 miles

Total steps so far: 284,130

Total raised so far: £2,001

Total completed streets so far: 399 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

✍️ Tuesday’s match in one word

Jack: Disappointing.

Mozzer: Scrappy.

🤔 Pre-match thoughts

Jack: I knew it would be tough against a team that had spent a lot more than us, but hoped we could get something out of the game nevertheless.

Mozzer: That we should be looking to take all three points, particularly given our lack of a league win since late August. I think for a lot of away games you start from the position that a point will do and taking all three is a bonus. However, we’ve all seen Shrewsbury’s start to the season and heard the noises around them, and I think you’ve got to go to teams in that position (and we’ve been ‘that club’ ourselves) looking to win. I was hoping we’d build on the performance at Barnsley, where we gradually improved as the game went on, and really dominate this one.

🧐 Post-match thoughts

Jack: It felt like the same game we’ve seen numerous times this season already: play well first half, don’t score, much worse second half and inevitably lose.

Mozzer: Job done, but perhaps not the way I’d hoped.

🔵 Verdict on Shrewsbury

Jack: See previous answer.

Mozzer: In a generally low quality half, they were the better side before the break but without forcing Addai to make a save (a fact helped by Horsfall deflecting over a definite goal-bound effort). I thought they put together some neat passing stuff at times but only rarely caused us an issue. Our sloppiness at times meant it was us who were more likely to create something for them! After the break, they were sporadically effective going forward but really struggled to cope with our changes. We didn’t play that well and still won with a clean sheet – if you’re a Shrewsbury fan, the signs are probably there for this being a long season.

🟣 Verdict on County

Jack: First half not great, lucky to be ahead at half-time. Second half the better team.

Mozzer: Mixed. After 15-20 minutes of largely pointless huffing and puffing from both sides, they got the upper hand and we were sloppy at times. We didn’t really get going in terms of creating pressure or chances before the break and against better opposition we’d have found ourselves behind at half-time instead of slightly surprisingly ahead with a slightly surprising finish from a slightly surprising source. After the break, we got better but it was the substitutions that made the real difference. We then looked much more like the team I think Challinor wants us to be – solid in the middle, quicker and more effective passing that put them under pressure, and presenting a genuine threat which pushed them back and stopped them being so much of a (potential) worry at the other end. Ultimately, it was almost disappointing to only win by a couple.

🐁 Top Shrew

Jack: Jordan Rossiter.

Mozzer: After the first half, I’d probably have said their number 9, Lloyd, whose movement was good and who put himself about much better than I’d expected given his size. He made us work at the back and looked a decent enough player. However, without their keeper that second half could have got much worse for them – I can recall four very good saves from him and I don’t think you could really point the finger at him for either goal. I’ve only just realised there are probably some terrible puns you could do with the name ‘Savin’ when it’s a goalkeeper, but you won’t catch me saying such things… Him, anyway.

🎩 Top Hatter

Jack: Callum Camps.

Mozzer: Horsfall. I’m predisposed to love defenders over the rest, but in recent times it’s been impossible not to like what we’ve done as an attacking force and some of the players who have been part of that. But Horsfall is immense for us and on Tuesday night he was in his element. Dealt with everything and everyone who came his way and had a significant part in both our goals. He just needs to add scoring goals to his repertoire and he’s ‘Centre-Half Hall of Fame’ material for me. Is it a man-crush? Don’t know, don’t care. He’s a vital part of what we do and on Tuesday night he was central to our win.

👂 Atmosphere

Jack: Home atmosphere was very flat. The away end had a good following and made decent, if not outstanding, noise.

Mozzer: Pretty decent turnout from us travelling down on a Tuesday night from [checks the Shrewsbury announcer’s notes] Manchester… We’ve been louder and sung for longer but we were pretty good overall, I’d say. Not too much to offer from the home fans. The small knot of them to our right had a little go every now and again, but you can hardly say the atmosphere crackled. They seemed to have some sort of protest after the second goal but it was entirely incoherent (manager, players, owner – who knows who was copping for it?) and they were largely wandering off home at that point anyway. I don’t mind Shrewsbury and we know what it’s like to watch your club descend seemingly without a fight or a clue. You can understand why things were how they were in the stands.

🙏 Hopes for the rest of the season

Jack: To not be embarrassed and relegated by Christmas.

Mozzer: Nothing this side of Christmas is going to dissuade me that (upper) mid-table, whilst showing progress on the pitch, will do us perfectly well for this season. Let’s see where we’re at in January and reassess. At which point I will settle for (upper) mid-table and showing progress.

😀 Best part of the day

Jack: The split second where I thought Leo Castledine was about to open the scoring but for a fabulous last-ditch block by Fraser Horsfall.

Mozzer: The second goal. It’s unlikely to go on anyone’s highlights reel, but I was really pleased for Wootton himself and it pretty much put the game to bed. Thank you and goodnight – apart from the drive home through Shropshire and the south Cheshire badlands.

😡 Worst part of the day

Jack: From minute 44 until the final whistle.

Mozzer: The first 43 minutes. A long, long way from good enough, even for mid-table anonymity.

The British Library receives a copy of every single book published in the UK. In the same fashion, Des Junior believes a detailed record of every County game should be preserved for the history books. So here’s the full story of our 2-0 victory at Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday 1 October, as told from his County-related WhatsApp groups…

6.46pm: Six changes tonight.

6.51pm: Strikes me he doesn't have a clue what his best team is yet!

8.28pm: Get in! Pye curls one home.

8.35pm: That was a shite first half from us.

9.14pm: Thought Wootton was Dicko just then. Wow.

9.15pm: He fully mugged off about four of them.

9.16pm: Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t put it away though.

9.40pm: Well that was not fun but very happy with the result. Looking forward to Saturday.

9.41pm: Wigan have slapped Peterborough tonight, they'll come to EP with a lot of confidence.

9.51pm: I’m not sure we’re a top five team at the moment. There’s too much time when we’re not quite all that. Although they had no penetration in the final third, Shrewsbury were able to pass their way through the middle third regularly.

10.35pm: Tom Lowe is not dead.

10.40pm: What have I missed?

10.41pm: Tom Lowe can’t handle his booze.

10.45pm: Passed out before the game and was taken away by paramedics on a trolley.

A few words from Lauren, one of our new sponsors

Hello and welcome to Conexus Tuition Cheadle Hulme, Handforth and Wilmslow. I’m Lauren, and it’s a privilege to be the Principal Director here!

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Photo of the day

Dirty Blondes, Blackpool

Did a stand-up comedy gig in Blackpool last night. I tell you what, there’s added pressure to keep the crowd entertained when they can simply ignore you and play on the SNES at their table instead!

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

One film at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. The Outrun (15) at 5.30pm. Click here for tickets.

Also, at 8.15pm, there’s a screening of the National Theatre production of Present Laughter starring Andrew Scott.

🍽 Food and drink

Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8). Plus, discounts on certain lagers between 12pm and 6pm.

If you’re simply in the mood for a couple of pints today, pop along to one of our featured venues such as The Nelson Tavern (SK1), The Crown (SK2), The Dog & Partridge (SK2), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Steelworks (SK6) or The Three Tunnes (SK7).