Recently appointed head coach Paul Hurst returned to the Croud Meadow for the first time since his playoff final success in 2018.
Town took the lead in the 12th minute through Dan Udoh, but just two minutes later Lyle Taylor equalised for the visitors.
Immediately after the restart, Cambridge took the lead as Taylor got his brace.
Salop had chances to win it but couldn’t find the final touch and The U’s defended their lead.
A frustrating afternoon. pic.twitter.com/LJF0dxpaQO
— Shrewsbury Town FC (@shrewsburytown) February 3, 2024
After the game, Hurst met with the media and he reacted to the game:
“Frustrated, you know after getting off to a good start as well, I think we were never quite sure how the game would pan out realistically.
“But the timing of the goals we conceded was really disappointing, we’d got ourselves in front and no one really had time to celebrate in terms of when we were back at 1-1.
“And then we came out for the second half and the next minute we’re 2-1 down, against a team like Cambridge who have a good defensive record and don’t give up many chances – that’s what all the stats suggest so that suddenly becomes a a lot more difficult.”
Hurst went on to talk about Shrewsbury going forwards:
“I thought we had some good bits of play, we had some possession but we didn’t really create enough and that’s the challenge because I think the way they defend, they defend deep and don’t give you too much space so it was difficult to get in behind them too often.
“We had the odd time where we had a really good bit of play when it ended up with [Tom] Bloxham putting in a ball and Dan [Udoh] has a shot where all the fans seemed to be claiming for a corner, but we didn’t get it.
“And in the end it just became difficult to create that, it looked like Chey [Dunkley] had a decent chance form a corner and it ended up a bit of a scramble and in the keeper’s hands.
“But, that’s the bit that’s disappointing because it didn’t feel like they did too much to us but probably from their point of view they would’ve thought they defended well and did a good away job and they’ve gone away with the points so it’s difficult to argue with that.”
“It was Hurst’s first home game back at the club as his first game was away at Northampton.”
𝙎𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙮 1-2 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚: 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/drK64BLVf6
— Park Life Sport (@ParkLife_Sport) February 3, 2024
On his return he said:
“I’ve spoken quite clearly about how I feel about the club, the opportunity, the chairman, the fans, I had a fantastic time.
“This is a different time, but walking out, it felt familiar and I would of course have liked a better result which you’ve just touched on.
“But with the crowd, I spoke again on Thursday about how I’d like us to give them something to cheer about and then likewise the fans getting behind the players when it’s not going how we’d both like.”
Shrewsbury travel to second placed Derby next weekend.
