Askey relieved after Shrewsbury secure first win under his leadership

Posted Sunday, September 16, 2018 by PA

John Askey admitted it was a relief after watching his Shrewsbury side secure their first League One win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Southend.

First half goals from Greg Docherty and Lee Angol – two men he recalled to his starting XI – handed Askey his first three-point haul since being appointed Shrewsbury manager in the summer.

“It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it?” said Askey.

“I was wondering when it was going to come and obviously it’s relief as much as anything at the moment.”

Docherty, the midfielder on loan from Rangers, fired Shrewsbury into a fifth minute lead with an emphatic finish from Alex Gilliead’s cross.

Then striker Angol doubled the advantage in first half stoppage time with a confident finish after Southend were unable to clear Shaun Whalley’s corner.

Askey said: “We started well and the goal came at a good time. There’s still things that we obviously need to improve on, but what I was pleased about was the amount of chances that we had.

“We could have scored more goals. Having said that, we could have conceded. I think today that little bit of luck when we needed it we had and that can win you games.”

As for the contribution of his goalscorers, Askey added: “They’re the lads who have scored previously. That’s Lee’s third goal and Greg’s second. That’s what we’re looking for, people who can score goals and it happened for them today.”

Southend, who have lost three League One games in a row, were twice denied by Shrewsbury goalkeeper Joel Coleman in between the home team’s two goals.

The Huddersfield loanee saved Timothee Dieng’s header and Simon Cox’s close range effort.

Southend boss Chris Powell said: “It was obviously the start which we didn’t want and against a side who haven’t won a game and that gets their tails up.

“I know they’ve played pretty well, Shrewsbury, but you can’t give any team in this league that sort of start.

“After that there was a decent response from us, but you have to take your chances when they come along, you have to be very ruthless when you get the opportunities to get yourself in the game.

“Then last minute of the first half we give away a cheap free-kick, then it’s a corner and all of a sudden you find yourself 2-0 down at half-time.

“All of a sudden it’s a real uphill struggle for us and no matter what we tried to do nothing came off for us in the second half, so we have to dig deep now.

“It’s three games now, which isn’t great for us, and it’s something we’ve always bounced back from when we’ve lost a game or two, but now that’s three games, that’s too many, that’s three too many.”