Michael Appleton hopes Shrewsbury comeback win can kickstart campaign

Shrewsbury boss Michael Appleton was delighted to see his side secure their first league win of the season and hopes it can kickstart their campaign.

Mark Shelton gave Barnet the lead after 14 minutes, but the visitors drew level through a Danny Collinge own goal. Bradley Ihionvien and Sam Clucas then struck late in the first half to seal a 3-1 away victory.

“We thoroughly deserved the three points – it’s a pretty excited and happy dressing room, as you can imagine,” said Appleton.

“Going a goal down again was frustrating, but the way we responded in that first half was excellent. Let’s be honest, we probably should’ve scored five or six.

“I’m delighted we got all three goals in the first half. We’ve created a lot of chances in recent games and this time, our finishing got the reward.

Appleton praised his attacking trio and the team’s direct approach.

“Having three forwards encourages us to play forward quicker and facing a side that presses well, that urgency really helped.

“We managed the game well in the second half. We didn’t need to chase it, so we sat back and looked to counter. In many ways, it was the perfect away performance.

On Clucas’s strike, he added: “He told me he meant it and he’s got the ability to do that. I’ve seen it plenty of times. He’s got a wonderful left foot and I thought he was excellent. A real collective performance.”

Barnet assistant manager Connor Smith labelled his side’s performance as “one of the worst” he has ever seen after their 3-1 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town.

“A frustrating performance,” admitted Smith. “We started brilliantly, dominated early on, got into attacking areas with ease and created chances.

“We scored a great goal, and then to concede so soon after is just criminal and it can’t happen at any level. To do it here was simply unacceptable. And the reaction after that was even worse.

Smith was critical of the defensive display and individual mistakes throughout the match.

“We gave them a massive lift. There were too many individual errors and poor performances. Watching the goals back, it’s awful defending for all three.

“The main one – the goal after we scored, just cannot happen. It’s a long ball through the middle and simply embarrassing.

Despite a strong opening spell, Smith said his side never recovered.

“There’s no positives, really. The first 10–15 minutes were good, but we didn’t react after our goal. We gave them a chance too quickly and never got going again.

“It was nowhere near the level or standards we expect. It’s one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen.

“We have to move on quickly with another tough game next week. No time to dwell.”