Boro fell to a 1-0 defeat at relegation rivals Shrewsbury on Saturday, due to a second half strike from Jon Taylor.
There was one change to the Stevenage team after the midweek draw at Wolves; Craig Reid made his first start of the season, coming in for the injured Mousinho and it was a nervy start for both teams, not surprising seeing as the two teams were occupants of the bottom two positions in the table.
Jon Taylor was Shrewsbury’s brightest spark in the first half and he was the first man to test Chris Day; having a pop from about 20 yards out and Day had to be quick to get down and parry out for a corner as the ball bounced just in front of the keeper.
Shrewsbury were on top for much of the first half and Day had to make another good save on 23 minutes. Shrewsbury captain, Mkandawire forced Boro’s number 12 to parry out for a corner from 30 yards out – an ambitious but spectacular effort from the centre-back.
Just before the half-hour mark, Michael Doughty came on for Simon Heslop and Boro began to grow into the game a bit more. The Boro attack started to test the Shrewsbury defence and shots from Zoko, Freeman and Akins followed to no avail.
In the final few minutes of the half, Boro had two golden chances to take the lead. First up, Doughty arrowed a fantastic ball to the back-post for Akins who pulled it across the six yard box where there was no-one to tap in. Moments later, Akins did brilliantly to find space out wide, stand his cross up for Zoko who could only head at the goalkeeper from five yards out.
Almost immediately into the second half, Day had to be on his toes and he made a spectacular diving save to deny Parry what would have been a certain goal.
Shrewsbury went ahead on 56 minutes when they exposed the amount of space down the left – Jon Taylor was picked out on the far post and he finished neatly under Chris Day to give the home side the lead.
Stevenage started coming into the game and with around 20 minutes to go began testing the goalkeeper at a much more regular rate.
Fil Morais made an immediate impact from the subs bench and should’ve scored after he cut in from the by-line, but Weale made an important save from a tight angle and Akins couldn't force the rebound home.
With eight minutes to go, Asa Hall was sent off for the home side - receiving a second yellow card after a cynical swing of the boot at Freeman. It meant that the final minutes of the game were going to be all Stevenage, but no-matter what Boro came up with Shrewsbury had an answer.
Within seven minutes added time, Boro threw the kitchen sink but despite numerous balls into the box and chances from Zoko with seconds to go, Shrewsbury stood tall and saw out the game. The home side should have really made it 2-0 when Iorfa broke forward in the final moments but Day was there with another impressive stop.