Shrewsbury Town 1, Lincoln City 0

Battling Lincoln City could not make their hard count at Croud Meadow on Boxing Day.

Shrewsbury took the lead in the first 10 minutes after a short corner was worked to Morgan Feeney who placed his shot under George Wickens.

From that point the Imps enjoyed most of the possession - they had the ball for more than 70% of the match - but were unable to find a way past Shrews goalkeeper Jamal Blackman.

The Imps avoided a 2-0 defeat when Shrewsbury were awarded a penalty late on but it John Marquis’ spot-kick saved by George Wickens.

Head coach Michael Skubala described the loss at as hard to take: "It's a tough one to take and can be difficult when a team sets up with so many players behind the ball and try and catch you in transition.

"We created chances and we had box entries, but we didn't really carve them open with the intensity we usually do, so it's a tough one to take.

Skubala paid credit to the home side's game management, but felt his side should have created better chances in their quest to get back into the match.

He said: "I thought we could have threatened more and we could have put more quality in the box than we did.

"You have to move it with a bit of zip to try and break things down and get into pockets of space. We didn't do enough in those fundamentals that would get as a result.

"And then you start slow and they get ahead, that was straight into their gameplan and they were then excellent with their gamecraft."

Picture: Vaughan Photography

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