Skipper Mattie Morris is already casting an eye towards next season and bouncing back at the first attempt after Shrewsbury’s relegation fate in Midlands Three West (North) was sealed with a game to spare.
A 10-5 home defeat against fellow strugglers Leek sentenced Shrewsbury to the drop, meaning there is nothing but pride at stake ahead of Saturday’s tough final day trip to runaway champions Camp Hill.
But Morris is determined to play his part in a revival next term, particularly as it is Shrewsbury’s centenary season.
“We all want to come straight back up, especially the senior players,” said Morris. “The fact that it’s also the club’s centenary next year means it will be really nice if we can mark it by getting promotion.
“We’re going to be playing at our lowest level since the 1990s and that’s when Allan Davies came in as coach and took us up a couple of divisions.”
Morris hopes Shrewsbury, who welcome Steve Owen back into the squad with James Plant unavailable, can sign on a high note at Camp Hill, although they could not have asked for harder last day opponents.
Shrewsbury are also in action on Tuesday (6.30pm) when they look to bridge the gap in class at Newport, the county’s top club, in the Shropshire Cup.
SHREWSBURY 1st XV (from): B. Jenkins, N. Challinor, N. Williams, S. Owen, S. Crippen, L. Mill, G. Adams, S. Evitts, M. Morris, A. Swann, B. Churchill, J. Wareham, W, Jones, M. Edwards, D. Bradburne, D. Griffiths, R. Hooper, I. Bussey, J. Pugh.
Whitchurch face a date with destiny as their survival battle in Midlands Two West goes right down to the wire on Saturday. Full story on page 118 of North Shropshire Chronicle out now.
