Daniels hero in Shrews shoot-out glory

Sun, 10 May 15:39:18 2009

Luke Daniels was the hero for 10-man Shrewsbury as he produced two penalty saves in a 4-3 shootout victory to send his side through to the League Two play-off final at Wembley.

Daniels' good work was not consigned to the shootout though as he made save after save to keep Bury at bay in the proceeding 120 minutes, also saving a Phil Jevons penalty in normal time.

It was an amazing turnaround for Paul Simpson's men as they were two minutes away from losing the tie, as Bury had dominated much of the game and looked to be progressing to the final courtesy of their 1-0 first-leg victory at Shrewsbury on Thursday, until Kevin McIntyre's 88th-minute strike levelled the tie.

Bury controlled the entire 30 minutes of extra time, but could not find a way passed the inspired Daniels and he saved penalties from Danny Racchi and Andy Bishop, to secure Shrewsbury's place at Wembley.

Bury were dominant and Alan Knill's men had a golden opportunity to extend their aggregate lead and finish the tie off after 33 minutes.

Neil Ashton, whose calamitous own goal handed Bury the advantage at the ProStar Stadium on Thursday, hauled down Morrell in the penalty area, but from the resulting spot-kick Jevons saw his casual effort saved by Daniels, who then reacted quickly to deny Michael Jones' follow-up effort.

The Shrews were boosted by their lucky escape and finished off an enthralling first half on top, having several chances to open the scoring and draw level on aggregate.

Bury were rarely troubled throughout the second period and looked to be holding on, but just as they were beginning to dream of Wembley, Shrewsbury popped up with a goal out of the blue that levelled the tie with just three minutes remaining.

A loose ball fell to McIntyre on the edge of the area and he rifled into the bottom corner to send the game to extra time.

Shrewsbury were reduced to 10 men with virtually the first action of extra time, when Steve Leslie was dismissed for an aerial challenge on Stephen Dawson before the game reached a penalty shoot-out where Daniels made himself a hero.

 

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