Shrewsbury Town 0 Rushden & Diamonds 1

Last updated : 08 October 2004 By Footymad Previewer

Shrewsbury Town suffered their third home defeat of the season - as they went down by the only goal to visiting Rushden & Diamonds.

The struggling Shrews were beaten by a goal on the stroke of half-time by Craig Dove - with the other significant contribution to the visitors' victory made by goalkeeper Billy Turley, who made a string of fine saves to keep the home side at bay.

With on-loan Manchester United midfielder David Fox - son of former Stoke City goalkeeper Peter - given an instant debut after making the temporary move from Old Trafford, Shrewsbury were keen to build on an impressive point gained at Wycombe last Saturday, but almost fell behind in only the fourth minute when Alex Hay saw his shot beat Shrews keeper Scott Howie all ends up only to rebound off the inside of a post.

Turley made the first of his excellent saves when he clawed away an effort from the ever-industrious Luke Rodgers in the 16th minute and denied the same player four minutes before the break with a diving stop at the near post.

But seconds before the half-time whistle, Shrewsbury failed to clear a corner with Dove on hand to smash the ball home from six yards.

After the break Shrewsbury continued to make the running, but were once again thwarted by Turley - whose 63rd minute stop from Ryan Lowe was the pick of his night's work.

Town boss Jimmy Quinn introduced former Rushden hero Duane Darby and winger Sammy Aiston in a bid to salvage a point, but the visitors held out in the face of some intense pressure to stretch their unbeaten run against the Gay Meadow side to six matches.