Notts County ease to first victory of the season against Shrewsbury

Goals from Matthew Dennis, Sonny Aljofree, Nick Tsaroulla and Conor Grant sparked Notts County’s season into life as they beat Shrewsbury 4-1 at Meadow Lane.

Having previously failed to taste victory since appointing new boss Martin Paterson over the summer, last season’s play-off semi-finalists heaped further misery on the visitors, who saw John Marquis score in the 32nd minute.

County were cruising when Dennis pounced on a mistake by Manchester United loanee Elyh Harrison in the eighth minute before Aljofree doubled their lead from close range after 20 minutes.

But more poor defending, this time at the other end of the pitch, handed Shrewsbury a lifeline when Marquis guided a header past Kelle Roos.

With both sides entering the game in poor form, self-belief was in short supply. But the excellent Tsaroulla restored the Magpies’ cushion with a delightful finish shortly after the restart, sweeping an angled finish past Harrison.

Shrewsbury’s hopes of avoiding a fourth straight defeat were extinguished in the 82nd minute when Conor Grant met fellow substitute Kellan Gordon’s pass to slam home.