Ollie Westbury gives his take as Shrewsbury picked up a surprising victory at Barnsley - giving Michael Appleton his first win as Salop boss. John Marquis scored in each half as Salop went into a 2-0 lead at Oakwell. Barnsley pulled one back but Salop saw the game out to put up only their eighth win of the campaign.
00:00Shrewsbury have registered their third away victory of the season today here at Oakwell Stadium against Barnsley.
00:09It's been a fairly luckless and dismal recent run which saw them go 15 Ligue 1 matches without a victory.
00:19They had not won since the 2-1 victory at Rotherham back at the start of February an awfully long time ago.
00:26Since then, Ligue 1 relegation has been confirmed and Town are going to be playing in the fourth tier next year.
00:35But today was a rare moment of positivity for those travelling Shrewsbury fans that have made the journey to South Yorkshire.
00:43Michael Appleton registered his first win in charge. Town took the lead in the game.
00:48Well actually they should have led before that. Mal Benning with a volley after a perfectly placed George Lloyd Cross.
00:54Once he volleyed home, the official's flag went up for offside.
00:58We couldn't tell at the time whether it was offside or whether it wasn't.
01:01But how Michael Appleton has said in his post-match interview that they believe that goal was to be onside.
01:06And he spoke in that interview actually a little bit about how important it is to get the first goal.
01:10And that when you're down and out, when there are looks against you, that things really do go against you.
01:14And that's one of the things that Shrewsbury have struggled with.
01:17Once they've fallen behind, they've struggled to get back into the game.
01:21But anyway, that didn't matter because Town did eventually go ahead when, you know, a brilliant ball by Toto Encialla,
01:27who was making his first start since the 2-1 victory over Mansfield when he was sent off in the 34th minute.
01:33He made his first start. It was a cross-field ball, beautiful ball, sensational first touch from Luka Hall.
01:38Great determination and strength to get the better of his man.
01:41He got to the byline, he pulled it back to Marquis and he managed to smuggle it over the goal line.
01:46And in it went for 1-0. From that moment on, it felt like Barnsley kind of woke up.
01:51The first 15 minutes of the game was played in a bit of a cricket connotation.
01:56If anyone's ever, you know, heard a game played at Lourdes, there was a hum.
01:59It didn't feel like anyone was actually watching the football.
02:01It felt like everybody was just talking in the stadium.
02:04Obviously, both sides a bit of a dead rubber.
02:07Obviously, going behind, that kind of sparked the home side into action.
02:11And they did have a number of opportunities leading into the break that Town really kind of rode their luck on.
02:17And they had another one after half-time where Jamal Blackman was forced into another really, really important save.
02:23So they would probably have found themselves a little bit unlucky, you know, probably around the 55th minute mark,
02:30to not actually be level and to find themselves behind.
02:33Shrewsby had a bit of a second win from that moment onwards.
02:35A couple of opportunities for George Lloyd and then eventually the second goal of the game came courtesy of Marquis once more.
02:43He's 12th of the season.
02:45A good assist by Callum Stewart who made a good forward run, got to the byline, pulled it back
02:49and a beautiful backheel flick into the far corner by Marquis.
02:54There was a late, well not late, in the 78th minute John Russell scored for Barnsley.
02:59But they never really, really put a hammer in the door down to get another goal back.
03:05Post-match questions towards Michael Appleton and his future.
03:08I did actually point out, you must be fed up if people keep asking him about this.
03:12When I went away on holiday two weeks ago, I had expected this to have been sorted out by now.
03:17He says there's a pecking order and other things at play at the football club
03:19and that there are other things potentially going on in the background that are influencing these contract discussions about a new deal at Shrewsby Town.
03:29I don't know whether that is some reference to the takeover and things that are burning on in the background.
03:34However, everybody needs some clarity.
03:37They need to get on and they need to make a decision and they need to announce it as soon as possible.
03:42Good day out here for Shrewsby.
03:44They win 2-1 against Barnsley and all your reaction.
