Drayton emerged from an hard-fought Shropshire Challenge Cup showpiece delighted to get some silverware back on the shelf – but just a little defensive about how it got there.

If the golden rule of how to win a final really is simply to avoid defeat, this form book Greenhous Meadow outcome was undoubtedly right.

Drayton were by far the most dominant force in a largely stalemate struggle, earned something like 60 per cent possession, created many more goal threats – if not quite chances – than Wem’s battlers and, on balance, should have won by a bigger margin.

But as Drayton boss Simon Line said in a back-handed tribute to his opponents:
“We won it . . . but we couldn’t kill them off.
“We should have put it to bed, especially after scoring our goal early in the second half, but we didn’t.
“We had plenty of possession, our defence played well again and I can’t remember our keeper having to make what you might call a real save."

Wem, full of commendable brimstone and bustle from start to finish, were also, sadly, guilty of squandering the best of what few clear-cut scoring opportunities the game threw up.

With the clock ticking down, luckless Callum Pugh, alone and six yards out, somehow scooped the ball wide after it had been knocked down to him from a cavalry charge to the far post for a free-kick.

It would have cancelled out Drayton’s eventual winner, clipped in with cool precision by Tom Rogers shortly after the break when the ball rebounded to him from Martyn Davies’s shot had thudded against the post.
Otherwise, goalmouth excitement was at a premium in a cagey first half. Davies was robbed of an early chance when Callum Bromley pipped him to attacking full-back Olly Turton’s far-post cross while for Wem Harry Murphy, given an opening on the edge of the area, hammered the ball high over the bar.

These apart, the main talking point was Sean Butler’s ugly-looking clash with Andy Pryce. The keeper suffered a back injury and while he played on until the break, he was then replaced by Andy Spooner.
The second half was a brighter, punchier affair, especially in an all too brief spell after Drayton scored, when they were prepared to push forward for a second and again, late on, as Wem also threw caution aside getting agonisingly close to equaliser.

“The lads were brilliant,” said proud Wem boss Dave Richards.
“There are four leagues between the teams and there were long periods when we matched them.
“It has been a tough week with having little time to organise the game but it was a brilliant night.”

By TERRY MORRIS