THE apprehension that I felt at 2:55pm on Saturday was made all worthwhile by the release of tension when Big Charlie stepped up for a typically nerveless penalty.

As far as home games go it was the best and most enjoyable since Owen Coyle’s stopped watch coincided with real time and Big Charlie put Newcastle United to the sword last January.

The key to this was a central midfield partnership that were on Shrewsbury’s trio like white on rice, a classy display from that man Bradley Dack and two centre-halves who dominated in the air against a side who are the very definition of ‘physical’.

But the performance and growth shown by Ryan Nyambe was the standout boon, besides the emphatic win over one of our main rivals.

Nyambe has struggled to win over some fans and his tendency to play overly safe with his passing can frustrate.

The Plymouth home game was perhaps the nadir when, playing at centre-half, the then-teenager found little to no movement from midfield or attack and opted to make most of his passes back to David Raya rather than hoof the ball aimlessly to the opposition.

While I would concur that his decision-making is still that of a player who played his first season in a terrible side unsuccessfully battling relegation the progress he has made since his first appearance at 17, ironically against Shrewsbury, is enviable.

Once more the camaraderie between the players bled into the performance. Players who get on will always go the extra yard for their mates. So much of the work that the likes of Danny Graham, Dominic Samuel and Craig Conway put in is involved with covering for players making their way back or resting after forward runs.

Dack is undoubtedly a ‘luxury’ player but the team seem to respect the fact that what he brings to the party is something both needed and rare so they work to accommodate that.

No doubt there’ll be disappointing results sometimes but let’s enjoy the football we see. Onward to standing proud at Fleetwood!