Men's 3rd XI Vs Shrewsbury 2

Telford 3's welcomed promotion rivals Shrewsbury to a warm St. George's. The reverse fixture was a 3-2 win for Shrewsbury, but Telford knew that 3 points were needed today. It was a 12 man squad picked to face Shrewsbury, with Ethan making his club  and league hockey debut, slotting seamlessly into the midfield. 

The game started lively, with Telford's high press forcing Shrewsbury into mistakes, and putting their back line under pressure. Telford's first chance came from a short corner, with Ben Edwards taking over injection duties, and Billy trying his luck from the top of the 'D'. The ball did come to Billy, who calmly smashed the ball past the keeper and the postman to make the score 1-0 to Telford early in the game!!

Telford kept the work rate up, pressing hard against Shrewsbury, who were struggling to stay calm and not agreeing with correct umpiring decisions. This lead to Shrewsbury receiving a yellow card, however Telford struggled to use this man advantage, struggling to put away some good chances. 

Half time came with Telford still 1-0 up, but knowing another goal was needed to be more comfortable in the lead. Captain Raj gave his half-time team talk, and the team knew a good result was possible. 

The second half started in the same fashion as the first, with Telford's high press forcing Shrewsbury into mistakes, as well as the defence and Dom in goal keeping out many Shrewsbury chances. Both teams had good chances, but both teams missing that cutting edge needed to score. It was Telford though who grabbed another goal, with Ben Edwards making a run through the middle of the pitch before offloading the ball out wide to Sahib. Sahib smashed the ball into the 'D', which found Ben Stevens on the back post, who took a touch before calmly slotting the ball under a diving keeper! 2-0 Telford!!

At this point in the game, Telford were dominating, with Shrewsbury struggling to get the ball out of their half. Many chances came, through short corners with Raj stepping up from left back to try a new routine, and with Matt F-Fox getting the ball in the D but the defence kept him out. Telford won another short later on in the game, with Billy back on the pitch from his green card. The ball came to Billy on the top, whose shot was saved by the keeper, but the deflection fell to Sahib, who flicked the ball into the goal to make the score 3-0!! Cue celebrations from Billy and the rest of the team, knowing this result was crucial against fellow promotion rivals! 

Next week, Telford travel to Wolverhampton and Tettenhall 3's for their last away game of the season.