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Shrewsbury Town manager Graham Turner will be ordering the Greenhous Meadow receptionists to bar all incoming calls from Bolton after this super Easter show from Tom Eaves.
The on-loan Wanderers striker’s second-half hat-trick drew the breath away from a home faithful that had grimaced through some pretty painful first-half viewing.
Eaves demonstrated how a clinical finisher can turn any game on its head.
His willingness to shoot on sight has already produced a creditable goal return during his Salop loan stint.
But it reaped an even richer dividend as he blew away the relegation clouds with two stunning finishes, sandwiched by a determined a solo effort, as play-off hopefuls Crawley were left bemused and beaten.
Town can only hope boss Dougie Freedman doesn’t fancy examining the credentials of the 21-year-old, who has yet to make a senior appearance for Bolton, in the closing weeks of the Championship campaign.
After ending their recent dismal home run, they should be able to get over the traditional 50-point safety mark without too much fuss.
But the Salop faithful will want to see more of Eaves’ barnstorming attacking which doubled his tally to six goals in eight games.
It was an outcome barely conceivable after Crawley laid siege to Chris Weale’s box in the first half.
Eaves signalled he was in the mood for his later carnage when he cut in across the box and despatched an effort which veered off McGinn but didn’t have the legs to carry to the bottom corner.
But that certainly wasn’t the case with the frontman’s first brilliant strike (48), which sent Jones’ net billowing such was the power with which it was struck from the edge of the box with his left boot.
And the game quickly swung Salop’s way as Eaves powered through a couple of weak challenges and then, after 30 yards of sinew-stretching exertion, coolly clipped the ball over the onrushing Jones (66).
The striker’s hopes of seizing the match ball from the penalty spot after Yado Mambo was held back in the box with ten minutes left were dashed by Matt Richards.
And Town’s skipper may have wished he’d deferred duties as he missed for the second time this year from 12 yards, sending his kick sailing high over.
But Turner’s touchline irritation turned to delight when Eaves turned and opened his body up to find the corner with his right boot from 20 yards to complete a stunning hat-trick (85) five minutes later.
Winger Mark Wright’s welcome re-appearance after a long lay-off from the bench only added to the positive vibes around the Meadow in the closing minutes.
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The on-loan Wanderers striker’s second-half hat-trick drew the breath away from a home faithful that had grimaced through some pretty painful first-half viewing.
Eaves demonstrated how a clinical finisher can turn any game on its head.
His willingness to shoot on sight has already produced a creditable goal return during his Salop loan stint.
But it reaped an even richer dividend as he blew away the relegation clouds with two stunning finishes, sandwiched by a determined a solo effort, as play-off hopefuls Crawley were left bemused and beaten.
Town can only hope boss Dougie Freedman doesn’t fancy examining the credentials of the 21-year-old, who has yet to make a senior appearance for Bolton, in the closing weeks of the Championship campaign.
After ending their recent dismal home run, they should be able to get over the traditional 50-point safety mark without too much fuss.
But the Salop faithful will want to see more of Eaves’ barnstorming attacking which doubled his tally to six goals in eight games.
It was an outcome barely conceivable after Crawley laid siege to Chris Weale’s box in the first half.
Eaves signalled he was in the mood for his later carnage when he cut in across the box and despatched an effort which veered off McGinn but didn’t have the legs to carry to the bottom corner.
But that certainly wasn’t the case with the frontman’s first brilliant strike (48), which sent Jones’ net billowing such was the power with which it was struck from the edge of the box with his left boot.
And the game quickly swung Salop’s way as Eaves powered through a couple of weak challenges and then, after 30 yards of sinew-stretching exertion, coolly clipped the ball over the onrushing Jones (66).
The striker’s hopes of seizing the match ball from the penalty spot after Yado Mambo was held back in the box with ten minutes left were dashed by Matt Richards.
And Town’s skipper may have wished he’d deferred duties as he missed for the second time this year from 12 yards, sending his kick sailing high over.
But Turner’s touchline irritation turned to delight when Eaves turned and opened his body up to find the corner with his right boot from 20 yards to complete a stunning hat-trick (85) five minutes later.
Winger Mark Wright’s welcome re-appearance after a long lay-off from the bench only added to the positive vibes around the Meadow in the closing minutes.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
