Following the international break, Blues returned to league action to host bottom of the league Shrewsbury, a side responsible for one of our three league defeats this season so far.
Shrewsbury had just lost their manager Gareth Ainsworth to League Two Gillingham days before the game, and had swiftly replaced him with Michael Appleton, meaning Blues played Shrewsbury twice in one season with the so-called “new manager bounce”.
That being said, the odds were stacked even more firmly against the visitors this time around. Whilst Ainsworth is known for his ability to motivate and inspire a dressing room, and the appointment at the time seemed a shrewd one to help guide Shrewsbury to safety with plenty of time left, this was different. Appleton doesn’t come with a reputation for being a survival specialist, and Shrewsbury found themselves 14 points away from safety at the foot of League One with just 9 games remaining prior to kick off. And to top it all off, despite this being the fourth time the sides have met each other (including pre-season and the Vertu trophy), this was the first game at St. Andrews against a Blues side who are effectively champions-elect with a huge lead on the trailing pack.
Chris Davies had a chance to rest his players who weren’t away on international duty, and rebuild the fitness of a couple returning from injury. Most notably, Ethan Laird was back fit and available for selection. Gardner-Hickman’s injury still persists, and Paik Seung-Ho picked up a knock whilst representing South Korea, and found himself in the treatment room. This gave a golden opportunity to Marc Leonard, who has seen his playtime severely limited this season despite being a very good player.
Davies named the following side: Allsop, Laird, Klarer (C), Davies, Cochrane, Iwata, Leonard, Dowell, Willumsson, Anderson and Stansfield.
First half
Blues were expected to dominate Shrewsbury, and dominate we did. It’s no exaggeration to say that come half time, Blues could’ve been 3 or 4 goals ahead.
Allsop played one of his pinpoint deliveries early doors to find Keshi Anderson in behind, but his shooting angle was tight. Although the volley that he struck was true, it flew high and wide and would’ve been a goal of the season contender had it gone in.
Willumsson and Dowell combined in the middle to play Jay Stansfield in behind the defence, and despite everyone expecting the England u-21 striker to find the back of the net, his effort was too near to the keeper and his shot was easily saved.
Possibly the best chance of the half fell to Kieran Dowell. Stansfield pressed Jamal Blackman in the Shrewsbury net and his clearance allowed Marc Leonard to intercept and win the ball in a dangerous area. His early pass found Anderson, who found Willumsson providing an overlapping run. The cutback from the Icelandic giant fell kindly to Dowell just outside the six yard box, but his effort was poor and high over the bar. Kieran will know he should’ve done better with that chance despite it falling to his weaker right foot.
He didn’t wait too long before making amends. Blues were awarded a wide free kick on the left hand side, and this time using his favoured left foot he whipped a dangerous delivery into the box, and fellow Rangers loanee Ben Davies bagged his first goal in Royal Blue, sliding low to meet the cross to slot it beyond the keeper.
Our final chance of the half came through Marc Leonard. Dowell picked him out in midfield from the right hand side, Leonard played a sweet flick round his marker to Willumsson for a one-two, but his shot sailed just wide of the post.
Half time: Blues 1-0 Shrewsbury (Davies)
The Blue domination continued into the second half, although this period saw the ruthlessness in front of goal that we’ve been lacking for a large majority of the season.
A short corner routine found Alex Cochrane on the edge of the area, but his shot dragged narrowly wide.
Ethan Laird doubled the score on the 60th minute, latching onto a pinpoint delivery from Marc Leonard to head home past the keeper.
Davies freshened the side up, replacing Laird and Anderson for Sampsted and Hansson. Alfie May also replaced Jay Stansfield later on. Hansson in particular looked dangerous and took on his man at every opportunity. He’d had two or three low crosses cut out, before one fell straight to Alfie May who tapped home and broke his goalless patch since mid-January. His teammates and fans alike were delighted for him as St. Andrews serenaded him – I definitely think that was the loudest goal that I celebrated on the day.
And then he doubled his tally. Blues again won a second ball in midfield, Hansson turned his man and found Dowell, his first time pass found substitute Luke Harris in space and he played May in behind. He (slightly awkwardly) rounded the keeper and scored our fourth of the afternoon.
Unfortunately, Shrewsbury took it upon themselves to slightly dampen the result by immediately responding with a goal of their own. Straight from kick-off, Shrewsbury went direct and found Jordan Shipley down the left hand side. Sampsted was caught out of position and his dinked ball into the box evaded all of Allsop, Davies and Cochrane and Vadaine Oliver bundled home from close range.
Blues could’ve added a fifth, and May certainly will be wishing he’d gotten his hattrick. Leonard played a diagonal long ball over the defence to find Alfie once more, but his half volley was straight at Blackman in goal. Dowell had a speculative shot of his own from the edge of the area that missed the target, but it wouldn’t matter, as Blues ran out comprehensive winners. Shrewsbury didn’t really lay a glove on Blues except for the one shot on target that they had which went in, and Blues looked fresh and ready to tackle this last insane run of games to the end of the season.
One down, 10 to go. Keep Right On.
Full time: Blues 4-1 Shrewsbury (Davies, Laird, May x2)
Ratings
Starting XI
Ryan Allsop: 7
Allsop didn't really have a save to make. Although he perhaps could've been stronger for their goal as it was a lofted cross into his six yard area, it ultimately didn't matter and his distribution was typically excellent throughout.
Ethan Laird: 8
Long may this version of Ethan Laird live. We sorely missed him when he was out injured, despite having competent backups, he has established himself as a key player in this second half of the season. He's now scored 4 goals this season, and criticisms of his goal contributions being limited feel like they're now outdated. He was excellent again against Shrewsbury and rose well to head home for our second.
Christoph Klarer: 8
Klarer has my vote for player of the season. He's been ever-present and outstanding all season, a top class defender with the ball playing skills to match. There was an amusing moment where he decided to demonstrate this dominance late on, when he dribbled up the pitch and back, beating several Shrewsbury defenders who couldn't get near him. The only thing he's missing is a goal. And speaking of...
Ben Davies: 8
I was delighted for Davies to get on the scoresheet after having such a strong year. He's the slightly more unassuming defender of the two, but has had a superb impact and can be easily correlated with our defence becoming rock solid after the first third of the season. Another classy display, and his interview with the Mail shows he might be open to a permanent move. I hope it's something we explore in the summer.
Alex Cochrane: 7
Cochrane did what Cochrane does, and had another solid display with no particular standout moments, either good or bad. That should never be taken for granted - he's an excellent system player and has the ability to contribute more on occasion. I'm sure he's enjoyed his well earned rest after playing almost all of the season without a backup left back, let's hope he can continue to the end.
Tomoki Iwata: 7
Iwata's usually part of a dominant midfield, and despite missing his usual partner Paik, he looked just as excellent. Similar to Cochrane - he did all the unnoticed things well, we frequently won second balls in midfield and Iwata's ability to do this, cut out counter attacks and regain safe control of the ball is imperative to how we play.
Marc Leonard: 8 - Man of the Match
Leonard has been seriously unlucky to not play more football this year. He's clearly an excellent footballer and had Blues not got two midfielders that you could argue might be destined for Premier League football, Leonard would be walking into the side. I thought he looked the better out of the midfield two on the day as well, with excellent combinations, a couple of shots from distance, great tackles, top work rate and bagged an assist for good measure. I felt like Leonard was absolutely everywhere, and so despite a host of candidates, he takes my man of the match.
Kieran Dowell: 8
Dowell has been transformative to our attacking play since joining in January, and played a part in many of our chances against Shrewsbury. He bagged an assist, but really could've had one or two more and a goal on another day. Superb performance, and he's another player that I hope we go knocking on Ranger's door for in the summer.
Willum Þór Willumsson: 7
It's been no secret that Thor has been out of form for months now despite an electric start to the season, but he looked quite a bit better on Saturday. He didn't get himself a goal contribution (although he should've with his pass to Dowell in the first half), but he just looked that bit sharper, his passes had more zip, and his movement was far more dangerous. Hopefully he can build upon this performance and hit form at the perfect time as the season draws to a close.
Keshi Anderson: 7
If Keshi had managed to stay fit all season, I'd be arguing his case for player of the season. He's been an unexpected revelation, when most fans were okay with letting him go in the summer. Unfortunately he didn't get himself on the scoresheet against Salop, but he always looked to make dangerous plays and attempted a couple of spectacular efforts with his volley in the first 10 minutes and his attempted overhead kick in the second half. He caused his defender nightmares and should feel he did a good job before handing the reigns to Hansson.
Jay Stansfield: 7
It wasn't Stansfield's best day in front of goal, but nevertheless he worked incredibly hard for the team and never stopped putting the Shrewsbury backline under pressure. His quality is only matched by his work ethic and team mentality, which was captured perfectly by how pleased he appeared to be for Alfie May post match.
Subs
Alfons Sampsted: 6
Sampsted replaced Laird at right back on the 60th minute, and did okay but couldn't reach the heights of the player he replaced. He was caught a bit high for Shrewsbury's goal too. We didn't need him to be great though, so certainly not a bad outing.
Emil Hansson: 7
Hansson may well have earned an 8 if he had more time on the pitch, I thought he was excellent after coming on and is playing far more direct than he was at the start of the season. He took on his man at every opportunity and provided a good assist for Alfie May. If he stays fit, he's an excellent option for us out wide.
Luke Harris: 7
A player who's come under a lot of fair criticism this year, but I thought Harris looked really good when he came on. Looked happier to get stuck in, agile and zippy on the ball, and played a good pass through to May for his second. A good step forward for the Fulham youngster.
Alfie May: 8
I can't express how happy I was for Alfie to score once, let alone bag a brace. He's been a top professional this year, comes across as a great bloke for the dressing room as well as having a knack of being in the right place at the right time in the box. Bar a couple of games recently, he's still had chances to score during his goal draught and I always think that's the sign of a good striker. He plays a little different to Stansfield - and we saw that straight away with his first goal. He found space between the defenders in the six yard box and got a typical poachers finish, before adding a second by running in behind and rounding the keeper. Tough choice between him and Leonard for the man of the match.
Grant Hanley: N/A
Hanley replaced Klarer in the closing stages, and could do nothing about the Shrewsbury goal.
