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SHAWBURY United again showed plenty of character to storm back from 2-0 down to beat Wolverhampton United 3-2 to extend their
unbeaten run in the West Midland League Premier Division to eight games.

A late goal from substitute Andy Oakley , making his return from five weeks out with a hamstring injury , completed another rousing
fightback from the north shropshire club , who are riding high in sixth spot , just five points adrift of leaders Malvern Town.

Little wonder Shawbury are looking so forward to Saturday's attractive trip to second placed Kington,. when they hope to be boosted by
the return of two key players .

Midfielder Nicky Guy (back) and defender Paul Matthews (ankle) both missed out last weekend , but joint manager Alan Smith said both
have a good chance of playing some part at Kington where he says : " It's always a tough match down there. "

Smith and his co-boss Delwyn Humphreys were highly encouraged by their sides battling qualities once more last weekend as they
fought back to complete a quickfire double over Wolve's United.

" I dont think there will be many teams who take six points of them this season , " said Smith. " But we're doing alright at the moment and
it's ticking over nicely. "

After a goalless first half , Shawbury conceded twice inside the the first three minutes of the second half to leave them up against it .

Shawbury went to three up front and the change finally reaped reward with three goals in a 13 minute spell turning the game on its head.

Long-serving Steve Giles scored twice to pull level before sub Oakley , the former Telford United forward , grabbed the winner ten
minutes from time with a far post header.

" The lads are showing a lot of character , " added Smith. " A lot of teams would of packed in at 2-0 down but the lads kept going. "

Shawbury United are refusing to contemplate a tilt at the Express & Star Premier Division title , despite an eight game unbeaten run
propelling them into the top six of the Express & Star Premier Division.

Joint manager Alan Smith has been delighted with his side's recent response following a slow start to the season, but insisted he
will not be getting carried away with their excellent run of form.

He said : " Full credit to the lads because we are on a fantastic run and they are really battling in games to keep the momentum
going.

" There is a great team spirit amongst them and they are really gelling well as a unit. But we are not looking to far ahead. We will take
one game at a time and keep trying to move forward in a steady-eddie fashion.

" The aim before Christmas is to keep in touch with the chasing pack and we are on course to do that at the moment. "

The Wem based club continued their habit of making life difficult for themselves on Saturday when they fought back from two goals
down to defeat Wolverhampton United 3-2 at the Butler Sports Ground , Steve Giles notching a brace and Andy Oakley scoring the
other.

APPEALED

Smith quipped : " We seem to be involved in thrillers with at least five goals every week and i think the players love making life hard
for myself and Delwyn Humphries because they always seem to be wanting us to solve a problem before they go on to win the
game. "

SHAWBURY are putting together an impressive run of their own by going seven games without a defeat.

Wolverhampton United were the latest opponents unable to overcome Shawbury on Saturday as Alan Smith's men enjoyed a well deserved 3-1 away win
which lifts them up to sixth.

First half goals from Steve Giles and Tim Humphreys put Shawbury in command and although their hosts pulled one back defender Phil Denson made sure
of the points by firing home from a corner. Smith said: " This was a great result especially with the injuries we have at the moment , it shows we have
strength in depth which is very pleasing.

" The lads were tremendous , midfield won their battle , the lads up front chased every ball and the defence were magnificent."

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SHAWBURY United , now unbeaten in seven games , will be hoping to complete a quick-fire double over Wolverhampton United in the West Midland League
Premier Division this weekend.

Shawbury , despite being without several key players , were impressive 3-1 winners in the West Midlands last time out and will be looking for more of the
same when they face the same opposition at the Butler Sports Ground on Saturday ( 2.45pm ).

Joint manager Alan Smith was delighted with his side's latest eye-catching away-display which lifted Shawbury up to a season's best sixth position in the
table.

" It was a great result especially with the injuries we have at the moment , " said Smith. " It shows we have strength in depth which is very pleasing .

" The lads were tremendous. The midfield won their battle , the lads up front chased every ball , and the defence were magnificent. "

Shawbury were quickly out of the blocks with their seasoned goalscorer Steve Giles taking just ten minutes to fire them ahead.

Giles then turned provider , creating a good chance for Tim Humphreys , who was unable to keep his shot down.

Humphreys soon made amends when he met a free-kick with a fine header to double the lead , an advantage that was halved on the stroke of half time as
Wolves pulled a goal back through Leroy May , the former Walsall and Hereford United striker.

STOOD FIRM

It was the signal for the home side to ask repeated questions of Shawbury defensively in the second half , but the North Shropshire club stood firm with the
back four providing goalkeeper Steve Jones with plenty of protection.

New boy Phil Denson , snapped up from Whitchurch Alport , also found time from his defensive duties to get forward and grab a third goal for Shawbury ,
finding the net with a shot from a corner after the ball fell his way to seal another pleasing day on the road for Shawbury.

Shawbury United joint boss Alan Smith is hoping the arrival of up to five new signings will help his side mount a realistic Express & Star Premier Division title
challenge.

Phil Denson has signed for the Wem based club from Whitchurch Alport while Chris Hill has joined from shropshire rivals Newport Town.

And with striker Jake Cintra returning to the club after a short spell in Greece and Smith closing in on two more targets , a realistic promotion push could be
on the cards.

Smith said : " We felt we needed to bolster our squad if we wanted to be challenging at the end of the season and we now have strength in depth in
virtually every position.

" Our target is to try and get inside the top eight by Christmas to allow the players time to gel and then try and push on from there. "

Smith's more immediate concern is to solve his side's defensive frailties which has now seen them concede six goals in the last two games.

On Saturday , United were forced to fight back from a goal down on three seperate occasions to salvage a 3-3 draw at home to Dudley.

Nick Guy scored the first two goals before missing a penalty , and it was up to Andy Reeve to poke home the equaliser in injury time after goalkeeper Steve
Jones had won a header after joining the attack from a late corner.

All good fun for spectators but Smith i anxious for his side to tighten up.

He said : " It is good to watch but it is doing my ticker no good. We have to get tighter because we can't keep conceding goals like we are and that is
something we will be working on this week. "

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A DRAMATIC late equaliser from Andy Reeve , set up by keeper Steve Jones , who was sent forward to cause havoc in the opposing penalty area ,
rescued a point for Shawbury United from a 3-3 draw with Dudley Town.

The hard-earned point stretches Shawbury's unbeaten run to an encouraging six games and keeps them handily placed in the top ten in the West
Midland League Premier Division.

Shawbury's joint manager Delwyn Humphreys declared himself pleased with his sides battling qualities but was also disappointed to let a good chance
of victory slip away as Dudley had a man sent off late in the first half for throwing a punch.

" We knew it would hard as it's never easy playing against ten men, " said Humphreys. " I can't really grumble with how we played as we had 75 per
cent of the possesion in the second half and created seven or eight good chances , but we still don't know how to kill teams off at the moment.

" We should have really won quite comfortably but when you're 3-2 down with three minutes to go then have to be pleased with a point.

" There's also a lot more fight in the side now which is good to see. Earlier in the season when we went behind we lay down , but now we keep going
right for the 90 minutes. "

Shawbury , who head to Herefordshire to take on Bromyard on Saturday , trailed three times against a Dudley side who were without their unavailable
former Liverpool and England star Mark Walters.

A see-saw first half ended 2-2 with both Shawbury goals scored by in-form midfielder Nicky Guy.

The former Shifnal Town man smashed home a penalty after a foul on Steve Giles and then beat the keeper to a cross to head in his second goal of the
game.

But Guy missed out on a second successive hat-trick when he saw another penalty well saved by the Dudley keeper.

Shawbury made most of the running in the second half, only for Dudley to break away and move 3-2 ahead ten minutes from time , a real hammer blow.

But Shawbury kept pushing and keeper Steve Jones was pushed forward for a corner as a last throw of the dice.

When the ball fell his way , the keeper-turned-striker turned sharply , allowing Reeve to nip in to take the ball off Jone's toe and slam in the equaliser.

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FORMER England winger Mark Walters will be the star attraction at the Butler Sports Ground when Shawbury United , a new entry in the top ten of the West
Midland League Premier Division , take on Dudley Town on Saturday ( 2.45 ).

Even at 39 , Walters remains a class act and has been in top form for Dudley this season , showing flashes of the skills which he regularly paraded during a
distinguished career which took in Aston Villa , Glasgow Rangers , Liverpool and Wolves , plus one full cap for England.

Shawbury's joint manager Delwyn Humphreys says it will be a big test for his side trying to keep Walters quiet , but he added it is a challenge they should
relish.

" It will be nice to see what he's still capable of doing , but hopefully not too much on the day , " said Humphreys.

" We're going to have to put someone on him closely , but it's great for our lads to play against someone like Mark Walters."

Humphreys knows his team will probably need to play better than they did last weekend , even though they managed to scrape a 4-3 win at lowly Brierley &
Hagley , a result which lifted them to ninth spot with a game in hand on most of the teams above them.

Nicky Guy , the former Shifnal Town midfielder , was the star of the show for Shawbury , grabbing a hat-trick from midfield , two penalties followed by a
late winner from a free-kick to preserve Shawbury's unbeaten away record this season which now reads three wins and a draw from their four league
trips.

" We didn't play very well at all , " admitted Humphreys.

PLUGGING

" Brierley battled like hell and kept coming back at us when we took the lead , and although we were the better side , it could easily have gone either way.

" When it got to 3-3 i would have accepted the draw , but in fairness to our lads they kept going , kept plugging away and got a good result in the end. "

Shawbury took an early lead through an own goal , the hosts equalised , Guy restored the advantage from the penalty spot after a foul on Jason Treharne ,
only for Brierley to pull level 2-2 before the break.

Guy's second penalty of the afternoon , awarded after a foul on Steve Giles , edged Shawbury back in front , the home team levelled again , but Guy had
the last word five minutes from time with a fine 20-yard free kick.

" Nicky Guy's been a tremendous signing for us ," added Humphreys. " He's got six or seven goals for us already which is unusual as i don't think he
normally gets that many , but he's on a bit of a roll now. "

Shawbury United joint manager Alan Smith breathed a huge sigh of relief this week after fears striker Jason Treharne had broken his leg
proved unfounded.

Saturday's epic 4-3 victory at Brierley Hill had threatened to be overshadowed by Treharne's injury after the frontman was stretchered out
of the action shortly before half-time.

Smith said : " We all thought Jason had broken his leg.

" He went down from a challenge and there was a loud snap but fortunately that was just his shin pad.

" Having seen the pain he was in , I was sure he had broken it but it turned out to be only bady bruised which is a massive boost for
everybody. "

The striker has not yet given up hope of taking part in Saturday's home clash with Dudley.