<% Dim oCs, oRs, strSQL set oCs = server.createobject("ADODB.Connection") oCs.Open "Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)}; DBQ=" & Server.MapPath("/season/02-03/data") & "/premtable.xls;" strSQL = "SELECT * FROM [Summary$] ORDER BY Pos ;" Set oRs = oCs.Execute(strSQL) %> ToffeeWeb: Shrewsbury Town v Everton, FA Cup 2002-03
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 FA Cup (3); Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury; Saturday 4 January 2003; 3:00pm
  Jemson (39', 90') 
 
 
Attendance: 7,266
Halftime: 1-0

Facts
Reports
Alexandersson (60')


Referee: Steve Dunn
 

Match Summary

David Moyes rung the changes after Wednesday's débâcle against Manchester City, with five players being rotated due to injury, and the ravages of flu that have been sweeping through the Everton camp.

David Unsworth returned from a cruel four-match suspension, with Watson presumably injured, and Pistone allegedly being "saved" prior to an imminent transfer out...

Gemmill and Carsley started in midfield (with Alexandersson, Li Tie, Pembridge and McLeod all on the bench); Radzinski and Rooney started together with Campbell out injured; and Peter Clarke, back for a couple of months from his loan spell at Blackpool, finally got a game in the first-team defence, filling in for the injured Yobo.

Shrewsbury captain Jemson was the first to take a pot-shot at goal, but well wide and they soon had a corner that Wright was forced to punch away.  Everton pressed in return, and Radzinski went close with his first shot of the game.  But the Shrews were back with a free kick that forced Wright into an excellent "world-class" save.

Pressure form Shrewsbury continued, with Woan shooting wide but Everton responded with a good break, Radzinski's shot being saved, then Carsley got around the keeper but contrived to shoot over as the game got going with both sides attacking. 

As the first half developed, it became clear that the Shrews were, not surprisingly, going to have a real go at Everton, with Richard Wright having to make a number of key saves.  But Everton were not completely overrun, managing a number of good breaks of their own, although palpably unable to make the final ball count.

Gravesen then gave away a silly free-kick, fouling someone on the edge of the box and it was Jemson who fired in a superb free kick, curling it around the wall.  Richard Wright got his fingertips to it but it was not enough to prevent the Shrews from drawing first blood, and taking in a vital half-time lead.

Obviously livid with Gravesen, David Moyes dragged him off at half-time and put Alexandersson in his place. 

Shrewsbury then claimed a penalty for what was elsewhere described as a blatant dive.  Nothing given by the ref.

Naysmith then played a key role in getting the ball to Gemmill who played in Alexandersson and the much-maligned Swede finished with a superbly taken shot, under the goalie and in off the post.

Steve Dunn, however, was doing his best to give everything to Shrewsbury, awarding another threatening free-kick to the home side, which Jemson fired just wide of Richard Wright's post.  Despite this, Shrewsbury were starting to tire after throwing everything at Everton.

Alexandersson nearly scored again, with his shot going right across the face of the goal and missing the far post.  Radzinski then burst through and tried to set up Li Tie, who had just come on for Gemmill, but the Chinaman could not connect with what would have been a sitter.

Wright then saved again, and Rooney got in the action at the other end, firing just over as the game seemed destined to go to a lucrative replay at Goodison Park for the plucky Shrews.

But, with a minute of regular time to go, it was fairy-tale time for the Shrews and utter humiliation for high-flying Everton.  Another free kick in a dangerous position and Jemson yet again became the hero as Woan fired in another superb free-kick into a crowd of players scrambling in the Everton box.  It was Jemson who got his head to it, nodding it past Richard Wright in the 90th minute.  Just 2 minutes of added time were left and Everton were well and truly undone.

Li Tie was away into the Shrewsbury area and crudely dragged down, but Steve Dunn was never going to give Everton a penalty, no matter how blatant the foul.

So, Shrewsbury, seventh from bottom in the Third Division, beat Everton, fifth in the Premiership.  Another great upset to add to the romantic history of football's greatest competition.

Footnote: At the end of the 2002-03 Season, Shrewsbury — under the management of ex-Blue, Kevin Ratcliffe — finished at the bottom of Division Three and lost their Nationwide League status.


David Moyes: No stranger to Gay Meadow

Shrewsbury v Everton:
Prior Cup Games
 Overall  
 Shrewsbury 1
 Everton 1
 Draws 0
 FA Cup  
 Shrewsbury 0
 Everton 0
 Draws 0
 Pre-Season:

Shrewsbury 0-3 Everton 

 

FA Cup Scores
Saturday 4 Jan 2003
Arsenal 2-0 Oxford
Aston Villa 1-4 Blackburn
Blackpool 1-0 C Palace
Bolton 1-1 Sunderland
Bournem'th 0-0 Crewe
Brentford 1-0 Derby
Cambridge 1-0 Millwall
Cardiff 0-1 Coventry
Charlton 3-1 Exeter
Chelsea 1-0 Middlesbro
Darlington 2-3 Farnboro
Gill'ham P-P Sheff Wed
Grimsby 0-2 Burnley
Ipswich 4-0 Morecambe
Leicester 1-0 Bristol City
Macclesfield 0-1 Watford
Man U 4-1 Portsmouth
Norwich P-P Brighton
Plymouth 2-2 Dag & Red
Preston 1-1 Rochdale
Rotherham 0-1 Wimbledon
Scunthorpe 0-2 Leeds
Sheff Utd 2-0 Cheltenham
Shrewsbury 2-1 Everton
Sotton L-L Spurs
Stoke 2-0 Wigan
Walsall 0-0 Reading
West Brom 3-1 Bradford
West Ham 3-2 N Forest
     
 
Match Facts
 Shrewsbury Town  (4-4-2)
 Blue & orange shirts, blue shirts, blue socks
Everton   (4-4-2)
 White shirts, white shirts, white socks
  Dunbavin
Moss
Smith
Tolley
Wilding
Artell
Lowe (81' Aiston)
Atkins
Rodgers  (78' Jagielka)
Jemson {c} (90' Drysdale)
Woan

Subs Not Used: Kendall, Redmile

Yellow Cards: Lowe (42')

Red Cards: —
Wright
Clarke
Weir {c}
Stubbs
Unsworth (91' McLeod)
Carsley
Gemmill (76' Li Tie)
Gravesen (46' Alexandersson)
Naysmith
Rooney
Radzinski

Subs not used:
Baardsen, Pembridge

Yellow Cards: Gravesen (35')
Stubbs (68'), Rooney (92')

Red Cards: —

Unavailable:

(Injured:) Campbell, Ferguson, Gerrard, Hibbert, Linderoth, Rodrigo, Simonsen, Watson, Yobo
(Ill:) Pistone
(On leave:) Wei Feng
(on Loan): Nyarko, Pilkington
(Waiting on Work Permits:) McBride, Said
 
Match Reports

Everton Web Sites
ToffeeWeb Match Summary
EvertonFC.com Match Report
When Skies Are Grey Match Report
Blue Kipper Match Report
Everton Fans' Reports
Paul Gregory Match Report
Links to Other Media Reports
Electronic Telegraph Match Report
BBC Sport Match Report
4 the Game Match Report
Sky Sports Match Report
Sporting Life Match Report
SoccerNet Match Report
The Observer Match Report
The Guardian Match Report
The Independent Match Report
Liverpool Echo Match Report
Daily Post Match Report
Premiership Table
Pos Team Pts
1 Arsenal 46
2 Man Utd 41
3 Chelsea 38
4 Newcastle 38
5 Everton 36
6 Southampton 35
7 Liverpool 34
8 Blackburn 32
9 Tottenham 32
10 Man City 31
11 Leeds 30
12 Middlesbrough 29
13 Charlton 29
14 Aston Villa 28
15 Birmingham 25
16 Fulham 23
17 Bolton 19
18 Sunderland 18
19 West Brom 16
20 West Ham 16

4 Jan 2003



Match Preview

The romance of the FA Cup.  A soggy Third Division quagmire of a pitch, and a team bumbling along near the foot of the Third Division... managed by an all-time Everton hero, Kevin Ratcliffe — the youngest captain to lift the FA Cup.  What more could you ask for?  How about the fact that David Moyes also played for Shrewsbury Town at one time?

This Third Round tie therefore has all the vital ingredients, and all the potential for an upset of mammoth proportions if David Moyes fails to drag the team out of the collective torpor that hung over them on New Year's Day...

Wayne Rooney may get one more chance to strut his stuff before his enforced lay-off, now extended to four matches.  David Unsworth will probably return as he may well have been part of the equation that has been missing for the last four games in which Everton have looked a pale shadow of the confident Premiership assailants who sailed up the league table on the back of six wins in a row.

On paper, of course, the gulf in class is massive.  But this is the FA Cup; there are no foregone conclusions, that's why they actually play the games rather than merely going by the form book.  It's football: anything is possible. 

 



Humiliation

They showed up in their thousands, travelling for miles for this fixture and left with a smile on their faces. 

But enough about the Shropshire Constabulary.  The Evertonians who made the journey certainly didn’t leave smiling — quite the opposite in fact. 

David Moyes made a few changes (some enforced upon him due to illness and injury) from the side that was dismal against Manchester City on Wednesday.  Lee Carsley started on the right in place on Steve Watson, Radzinski was handed a role partnering Rooney, Scott Gemmill came into the side for a rare start replacing Li Tie, and an even more surprising name on the team sheet was that of England U-20s captain Peter Clarke who came in as right back for his first start of the season.

A healthy number of Evertonians crammed into a packed Gay Meadow and fully expected a comprehensive Everton victory.  From the kick off, though things started to go badly wrong.  The pitch was poor for sure but wasn’t nearly as bad as expected.  A tidy Everton start saw a fair bit of possession and some decent build-ups led to Radzinski and Rooney squandering opportunities.  Shrewsbury held their own and hit Everton on the break on several occasions in the opening period with the back-from-suspension Unsworth guilty of being caught out on a couple of the Shrewsbury counter attacks.

Around about midway through the first half Everton started to lose their way.  Peter Clarke was having a nightmare in the right-back position (a couple of decent crosses aside) and Thomas Gravesen went into headless-chicken mode – kicking opponents, misplacing passes, not tracking back and complaining to the referee when he got a shove (instead of getting on with it).  In fact it was a reckless challenge that led to a free kick being awarded on the edge of the Everton penalty area which former Nottingham Forest player Nigel Jemson bent into the near top corner of the net (I haven’t seen a replay but maybe Wright should have had it covered).

Everton were rightly booed off at half time and things were so bleak that Niclas Alexandersson was brought on for Gravesen (substituted for the second time in a week).  To be fair to Alexandersson, he did show a few nice touches, yet looked reluctant to take a man on.  It was in fact Alexandersson who scored the Everton goal, cutting in from the edge of the area and producing an assured finish into the net past the hapless ‘keeper.  The away end exploded and the relief could be seen on fans and players alike.

Surely this was it now – Everton would go on and kill the game off with their superior fitness and skill levels... Well, er...

Li Tie was introduced for the tired Gemmill who, although he misplaced many passes, was perhaps the most composed Everton player today.  He looked to keep hold of the ball and pass it on the ground – something we’ve missed of late.  If memory serves me right, he also had a major part to play in the goal. 

Li Tie, minutes after coming on, missed an absolute sitter to kill the game off after a Rooney pass in the area.  From eight yards out the Chinese International somehow misjudged the ball and fell into a heap... was it going to be one of those days?

Rooney, Alexandersson and Radzinski were then guilty of missing chances that would have given Everton an undeserved lead.  I say undeserved because Shrewsbury caused our defence constant problems all afternoon.  We were hurt on the flanks and it is a must that Tony Hibbert and Joseph Yobo regain their fitness if this run of poor form is to end.

In the last five minutes, we were holding on by the skin of out teeth.  With the clock showing ten to five, the floodlights on, the Match of the Day cameras fixed on the action — it was quite obvious what was coming next.  A cross from the right saw Shrewsbury dangerman Nigel Jemson left totally unmarked to head the winner from close range.  Nobody around me could believe what an amateur display we were watching.  It was a disgrace to the shirt, the badge and the great supporters who turn out in numbers every game.

The final whistle blew and the Shrewsbury fans went mental.  The Everton players trudged off to the loudest booing heard under Moyes’ reign.  This really was a pathetic performance – on par with anything messrs Walker and Smith churned up.  To be honest, the past few weeks has been utter dross and David Moyes has a lot of work on his hands to turn the ship around.

“Disappointing” as Moyes’ predecessor might have said.

PLAYER RATINGS

  • Wright (6)  Did his job reasonably well.  May have done better for the first goal.
  • Clarke (4)  Played out of position but looked totally out of his depth I'm sad to say.
  • Unsworth (4)  Not the Unsworth who started the season so well.  Passing was poor and he let the Shrewsbury winger have too much time.
  • Weir (6)  Average performance.
  • Stubbs (6)  Did okay although his passing was poor at times.
  • Carsley (5)  Created nothing for us all day.
  • Gemmill (7)  Best of a bad bunch of midfielders. At least he knows how to keep a pass on the ground and always looks for the ball.
  • Naysmith (5)  Didn't create enough; looked too lightweight.
  • Gravesen (4)  Atrocious.
  • Rooney (7)  Tried to create something but it just didn't happen for him today.  Some good touches.
  • Radzinski (6)  Ran his socks off and should have scored.  Poorly serviced but needs to run at defenders more — especially 3rd division standard defenders!!
  • Alexandersson (6)  Didn't track back or fight for the ball but looked dangerous on it.  Well taken goal.
  • Li Tie (5) Should have scored.
  • McLeod - Came on too late to warrant a rating.

Paul Gregory



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