91Èȱ¬

Shrewsbury Town claimed a key win over League One relegation rivals Stevenage.

Shrewsbury began brightly, visiting keeper Chris Day making important saves from Jon Taylor and Tamika Mkandawire.

Dominic Iorfa then robbed Boro's Luke Freeman to slip a fine ball through to Taylor, who fired powerfully past Day to give Town their 57th-minute lead.

The hosts lost midfielder Asa Hall to a second yellow card late on, but stood firm despite seven minutes of stoppage time to collect three crucial points.

Shrewsbury climbed off the bottom of the League One table, up to 22nd place, just two-points behind 20th-placed Carlisle.

Just four days after climbing off the bottom, Stevenage slip back to the foot of the table, four points from safety.

Shrewsbury keeper Chris Weale was brought back in place of Joe Anyon after a 10-game absence - one of five changes made by boss Mike Jackson following last Saturday's lifeless 1-0 defeat at Walsall.

Shrewsbury Town manager Mike Jackson told 91Èȱ¬ Radio Shropshire:

"It's a good win. It got quite stressful towards the end. But I want to congratulate the crowd. The way they responded was brilliant.

"And a big credit goes to the players. No-one else matters at this moment in time. We have been questioned about passion in the past - but I don't buy into that. We started with intent and produced an unbelievable performance.

"The whole team and even the subs who came on dug in - and we set the tone. It was tough towards the end and credit to them. Asa Hall was clumsy with his challenge to get sent off and I don't understand how the referee found seven minutes of added time.

"We made changes and some of the players were unhappy, but I am hoping everyone in this group can galvanise and get us through to the end of the season."

Stevenage manager Graham Westley told 91Èȱ¬ Three Counties Radio:

"In the first half, we didn't impose ourselves on the game in the way we ought to have done.

"Once again, we talk about conditions. At this time of year, you'll often find a state where the wind is whipping it up from one way to the other. We found it very difficult to get out.

"Once we got the game going forward, in the second half, a lot of the pressure and play was ours. We had some very good moments when we could have put the ball in the back of the net.

"What I hope the players learn about difficult situations is that you have to play with courage. Not when things have gone wrong, but from the outset. We didn't show enough quality and desire to take our game forward in the early stages."