Malvern Town 1, Shifnal Town 2.

MALVERN Town conceded an early goal in this Aspire Midland Alliance game after only seven minutes as the swirling wind held Paul Ireland’s header and it fell to Joe Davies to side-foot home.

Gradually, Malvern worked their way into the game with Craig Selby, returning to the club, causing the Shifnal defence problems.

In the 15th minute he crossed the ball into the middle and Shinfal keeper Tom Tufft fumbled but Andrew Crosskey fired the ball over.

The hosts scored the equaliser in the 20th minute from an in-swinging corner which was headed home by midfielder Mark Brookes.

Malvern enjoyed a purple patch and should have taken the lead. First, a free-kick on the half- way line fell to Selby whose shot reached Bryan Craven and his effort was parried by Tufft.

The ball was cleared by the Shifnal defence and it fell to Paul Edwards, who sent a 30-yard curling shot just over the bar.

Chris Palmer’s side never got going in the second-half although they did win a free-kick on the edge of the area after 59 minutes.

Craven’s shot looked to be heading for the back-post bottom corner but Tufft pulled off a wonderful save to push the ball clear.

Shifnal’s dominance began to tell.

In the 75th minute, the ball was played up to Andy Rich’ who chested it down and fired in an unstoppable 35-yard shot into the net. Malvern were constantly caught offside and Shifnal held onto all three points.