Steve Cotterill unaware of Shrewsbury milestone after win over Forest Green

Posted Sunday, September 04, 2022 by PA

Humble Steve Cotterill admitted he had no idea the 2-0 victory over struggling Forest Green was his 100th game in charge of Shrewsbury.

The wily boss revealed the win would taste just that bit better after his managerial milestone.

“Oh, that’s nice, I didn’t know that,” said Cotterill after the win in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. “We can all have a good night and a brilliant weekend.”

Rekeil Pyke pounced in the 10th minute and Jordan Shipley struck three minutes after the restart to give the Shrews three welcome away points.

Cotterill lauded his team’s performance and the quality of the goals but still wants more.

He said: “It was great quality for the goals but you’ve got to do the hard stuff as well. We’ve got to be industrious and we did both.”

The former Nottingham Forest and Bristol City boss was thrilled with the contributions of scorers Pyke and Shipley.

He added: “I’m really pleased for Rekeil and Jordan. I told Jordan to put that ball in the corridor for Rekeil and he’s had an important impact on the game. I love a clean sheet and I thought Chey Dunkley was outstanding at the back.”

Earlier, Pyke pounced on threadbare Forest Green defending to give Shrewsbury the lead, finishing comfortably beyond the exposed Luke McGee.

Rovers responded and Armani Little tried to find parity with a speculative strike on the angle and then Kyle McAllister fizzed wide.

In a disrupted opening 20 minutes, Rovers lost captain Jordan Moore-Taylor to a head injury, which also saw keeper McGee receive treatment.

The delay suited Rovers, with Brentford loanee Myles Peart-Harris seeing his stab cleared off the line by George Nurse and Regan Hendry lashing wide.

In nine minutes of added time, Little tested Marko Marosi and Dom Bernard arched a ball over.

Shrewsbury caught Rovers cold minutes after the resumption with Shipley pouncing and firing comfortably past McGee.

Rovers looked for a semblance of hope as Peart-Harris watched Marosi glove his strike over.

Chelsea loanee Bryan Fiabema missed a glorious chance to pull Rovers back into the match with 17 minutes to go, failing to get enough purchase from a McAllister cross as time ran out for Ian Burchnall’s side.

Burchnall pin-pointed a growing injury list, which saw captain Jamille Matt forced to pull out before kick-off.

He said: “We’ve got five or six starting players out now and we’re in a tough period at the moment.

“Jordan Moore-Taylor is going to be out now and we’re getting no protection at the moment from the referee – how Ryan Bowman fouls Moore-Taylor and isn’t shown a card is beyond me.”