Shrewsbury Town were rocked by a red card inside ten seconds as they lost to Peterborough United.
It was a huge game in the fight for Sky Bet League One safety, as Posh eventually won 3-1 after a manic start to the afternoon.
Salop manager Gareth Ainsworth reacted to defeat, in which John Marquis was sent off in the first few seconds for an adjudged to be dangerous elbow. The dismissal was a likely EFL record for the earliest red card.
Shrewsbury Town manager Gareth Ainsworth:
Speaking to The Deck, the Salop boss said: “[It changes the game plan] like you wouldn’t believe if you get a red card after 10 seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever put a training session on in my life saying we might get a red card after 10 seconds, let’s be ready for that.
“It changes everything, but the lads adapted really well and I thought they performed very well for 97 minutes, and then we concede in the 98th and that happens sometimes.”
The game was frantic for the opening quarter of an hour, while Shrewsbury Town rarely looked second best despite the dismissal from there on out.
Will Shrewsbury survive the drop?
Ainsworth was asked by The Deck‘s Jamie Johnson if the defeat had knocked his confidence in Shrewsbury Town managing a great escape.
“I’ve got some good players, some real good players. They’ve been through the mill this season, believe me. A pre-season, a philosophy, a whole preparation for a season would’ve been great, coming in half-way through, or a third of the way through, is always tough for a manager,” he said.
Peterborough’s Tayo Edun opened the scoring directly from a corner after the early bath for Marquis.
Mal Benning netted from the spot to pull the game back level, but Peterborough regained their lead in the first-half before the late third from Chris Conn-Clarke deep into stoppage time.
Ainsworth added: “I’m hoping people have seen the pick-up, and all I can do is keep putting a team out and keep trying to win games. That’s what I am here for, and I’ll do it with my head held high and very proud.”
Shrewsbury have a mountain to climb – Opinion:
Sitting inside the rapturous Weston Home Stadium (London Road for the purists), it was clear to see there was no shortage of desire in the Shrewsbury ranks.
They battled and fought for the entire game, at times not looking like they had a man disadvantage. The gap is now eight points to safety, with Salop rooted to the bottom of the League One table after results elsewhere went against them.
It will be no easy task, but Shrewsbury Town are not dead and buried just yet.