Shrewsbury Town produced their finest performance of the season, defeating Cambridge United 4-1 at the Montgomery Waters Meadow Stadium.

Adam Bowman scored six minutes into the match for the Shrews before Jack Iredale equalized in the 58th minute. Bowman then scored twice in ten minutes to complete his hat-trick before Luke Leahy capped the scoring in the 90th minute.

The result lifts Shrewsbury out of the EFL League One relegation zone and into 20th place while Cambridge are now winless in seven, slipping to 18th in the table.

Stroy of the match

Shrewsbury had a chance just two minutes into the game, Leahy delivering a left-footed cross to find Dan Udoh, but he saw his header glance over the bar.

Four minutes later, the hosts were in front. George Nurse fired a ball towards the back post and Bowman rose highest to smash his header past Dimitar Mitov and into back of the net.

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Shortly before the half-hour mark, Mitov was called into action again when Elliott Bennett played Shaun Whalley through and his effort stung the palms of the U's goalkeeper. 

In the 58th minute, the visitors were level as Iredale picked up the ball deep in the Shrewsbury half and his powerful effort nestled in the top corner of the net.

Cambridge were reduced to 10 men as Adam May was shown a straight red card for a foul on Josh Daniels as referee Simon Mather judged the U's number 19 to have endangered Daniels with a poor challenge.

Shrewsbury re-took the lead in the 73rd minute as Bowman latched onto a Whalley's through ball and managed to beat the on-rushing Mitov to make it 2-1.

With seven minutes to go, Bowman secured his hat-trick. The forward smartly evaded Cambridge defenders to earn half a yard of space and curled an effort into the far side of the net.

In stoppage time, Bowman turned provider as he played a short pass to Leahy who was able to guide a shot into the bottom corner of the net to cap off a memorable afternoon for the hosts.

Man of the match: Ryan Bowman

Who else would it be? He was the leader of the Shrewsbury offence, scoring three and assisting the fourth. Add to it that he responded from a major heart scare and you have one of the best stories of the season so far.

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