Shrews 3 Bantams 1

And they are off! And what a flyer it seemed to be. The lads in mustard yellow (what a nasty kit) passed and moved, with nary a big hoof in sight, as the home side were starved of possession. Then on 25 minutes, the impressive youngster Adeyemi took advantage of some shabby tackling, and scored an opener. We all sat back, and expected the game to open up, and for our condiment coloured heroes to kick on and make the game safe. But of course this is Bradford City, and within 10 minutes the lively Town winger flung in a cross, that seemed to have been well collected by our keeper. Till he hit the ground, and the ball flew loose. A scramble ensued, and you guessed it, 1-1. We had a great view of the incident, and it was one of those calls that usually sees a free kick given for fouling the keeper, but the shrill sound of the whistle never came. The rest of the half passed without much incident, but that was all to change in the second half.

Shrewsbury hadn't looked much for the first 45 minutes, but the two wingers did catch the eye, and straight from the kick off they upped the pace, and began to run our defence, in particular Threlfall and Hunt ragged. Within ten minutes we were not just a goal down, but two, as their centre forward matched his goal total from last season, as he racked up a hat trick. Our response was little worrying, to be quite frank our lads looked a bit tired. There was plenty of effort all round, but a lack of pace and urgency saw all of this perspiration come to nought. Even when the home team had a man banished to the dressing room, little head way was made. Full time, 3-1 to Shrewsbury, and to be fair, they were well worth it. They will be there or abouts come the end of the season. But will we? Positives were to be had in the performances from Adeyemi, Williams and Doherty, and the passing patterns shown in the first half. Speight looked a hand full when brought on, and we have a fit Daley to come back after suspension. Plus it was the first game of the season, and nobody gets promoted in August. Next week Stevenage, with a mid week cup tie against Forest.

Kev Watch- A poor first outing form our lanky leg end. Fist up, he gave me a hard time for sleeping in, even though I had a hangover. He then got me a pint of Carling, moments after hearing me moan about how much I dislike the stuff. He thought it was well amusing, which makes me suspect he did it on purpose. He did come in handy for the pie shots, but that was about it. Looking for a stronger effort in the first home game, or I am contemplating letting him go on a free to Park Avenue. 2/10



Pie Rating- A double effort this week, as myself and Helmet sampled the savouries of Salop.

Cottage Pie- I clocked this effort straight away, as it something you do not often come across in the football league. A pie with no pastry. Instead it was served in a deep foil case, topped with mashed potato's, that were wonderfully crisp on the edge, after being left to warm in the oven. The mince was plentiful, and without grease. It probably could have used some vegetables, either carrot or pea, to flavour, but it was delightful. I scored it an immediate 9.2, but that could have just been down to sheer excitement of it being the years first savoury. I have since marked it down to an 8.8. It is a hard one to compare, as it is the only one I have tried, and so it has no peer. Will take some beating mind, especially since the mighty Dale pie is now strutting it's stuff in League 1. 8.8/10

Steak Pie- Another strong effort. A good heat, decent pastry and proper chunks of beef, of which there were many. But it was the stock that was the star. Beefy, but with plenty of peppery taste, and combined with brown sauce was a taste sensation. Kidney, or mushroom, would have complemented it wonderfully, and it's for this reason alone that it just falls short of the King of pies, the aforementioned Dale. 7.7/10



Steak Pie- If there is one thing Big Tone knows, it's grub, and the Steak Pie had him in raptures. From the flakiness of the pastry, to the chunks of beef via the succulent gravy. He even manges to get all into his mouth, something he failed to do in the greasy spoon we stopped at, slopping brown sauce down his white sweat shirt.The hard to please Helmet was impressed. he is a much tougher grader than myself, and struggled between awarding it an eight or a seven, so settled on the difference, awarding it a very strong 7.5/10.

The gauntlet has been thrown down....