Gillingham were undone by a goal in each half at the Greenhous Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they were beaten by a slick Shrewsbury side.
Shane Cansdell-Sherriff gave the home side the lead on 30 minutes when he volleyed home from eight yards out and despite Gillingham pushing for an equaliser they were finally undone three minutes before time when Mark Wright struck.
The Gills made just the one change to the side that were knocked out of the FA Cup by Stoke City, with Dennis Oli surprisingly chosen to replace the injured Danny Kedwell.
New signing Jo Kuffour wasn’t deemed fit enough to take his place amongst the substitutes, whilst loan signing Gavin Tomlin was named amongst the five on the bench alongside Luke Rooney who has been subject to a bid from Swindon Town.
With Oli playing up front with Curtis Weston and Chris Whelpdale in supporting roles, Gillingham found it hard to get into the game and it was the home side that made all the early running.
Andy Frampton was lucky to be in position to deflect James Collins’ shot wide while Garry Richards blocked Mark Wright’s cross cum shot.
From the resulting corner the Shrews took a deserved lead. With Ross Flitney’s defence in complete disarray, Shane Cansdell-Sherriff was on hand to stab the ball home.
Gillingham went in at the break having gone 45 minutes without troubling Shrews keeper Chris Neal and the next 45 turned out to be little better too.
Gavin Tomlin was finally introduced on 63 minutes with Rooney coming on a minute later and for a while it gave the visitors a renewed sense of urgency, but once again they failed to really threaten the goal.
Rooney did pull a save out of Neal, but in truth the keeper was equal to it, whilst at the other end it looked as though Shrewsbury would score at will and it finally came with three minutes left on the clock.
Wright was on hand to turn in Jermaine Grandison’s cross and it could have been even worse for The Gills when Matt Richards curled his shot just wide and Jon Taylor forced Flitney into a fine save.
The full-time whistle came as a relief to the 247 hardy Gills fans that had made the long journey only to brave the cold and watch their side easily beaten.
Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler will have much to ponder over the next week and will be hopeful of having Jo Kuffour and Danny Kedwell available along with defender Joe Martin.
FULL TIME: SHREWSBURY TOWN 2-0 GILLINGHAM
Saturday’s defeat sees The Gills drop to seventh in League Two and next up is AFC Wimbledon on Saturday 21st.
Shrewsbury line up: Neal, Grandison, Jacobson, Sharps (c), Cansdell-Sherriff, Wright, Collins (Gornell 85), Morgan, Richards, D McAllister, Taylor.
Subs not used: Smith, S McAllister, Ainsworth, Wildig.
Goals: Cansdell-Sherriff (30), Wright (87).
Booked: Collins (5), Sharps (76).
Gillingham line up: Flitney, Lawrence, Richards, Frampton, Jackman, Whelpdale (Rooney 64), Montrose (Tomlin 63), J Payne, Lee, Weston, Oli (S Payne 72).
Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Fish.
Booked: Weston (53), Lee (64).
Referee: Mr Carl Boyeson
Attendance: 4,940 (247 Gills)