Stevenage made it two wins from two in League One with a comfortable success over Shrewsbury Town in their opening home league game.

Aaron Pressley's first goal for the club and a late second for Jamie Reid gave Boro a 2-0 win over the lacklustre visitors from Salop.

The result sends them third in the table after two games, one place behind Cambridge United who they go to on Tuesday.

And while the tongues of the East Terrace were firmly in their cheeks when they sang "we're going to win the league", the start to the season has just about been perfect for Steve Evans and his men.

The only worry will be another potential niggly injury, this one forcing Luther James-Wildin off.

The Boro boss had made six changes for the Carabao Cup game with Watford in midweek and he went for another three here.

Krisztian Hegyi's heroics kept him in the number one shirt, with Taye Ashby-Hammond on the bench, but skipper Carl Piergianni returned from injury.

Jordan Roberts and Louis Thompson also returned to the starting line-up as Alex MacDonald, Nick Freeman and Kane Smith moved to a six-man bench.

Whether it was the changes that brought the impetus, or three Shredded Wheats, is one for the pub after the game.

But what was clear was Stevenage started like a house on fire and should have been at least one up.

Their first chance came after just 51 seconds, a back pass to Marko Marosi was sliced by the keeper and dropped over the shoulder of Josh March.

His volley looped just over the bar.

Chance number two was for Finley Burns who got on the end of a chipped Jordan Roberts cross.

He turned his back though under pressure and put the header over.

The third opportunity was sent across the face of goal and wide by Dan Butler.

After that though the match got slower and slower and became stop-start, preventing any sort of excitement.

The best chance in the middle of the period went the way of the visitors who capitalised on a slack header by Jake Forster-Caskey.

Taylor Perry certainly caught the shot well but Hegyi produced a stunning save to tip the effort onto the bar and over.

Boro did finish the half with another attempt on goal but this time Marosi was equal to Piergianni's header.

The stop-start nature of the half wasn't helped when referee Craig Hicks pulled up with a thigh strain and had to be replaced by one of the linesmen.

Shrewsbury made a change at the break, Mal Benning coming on for Tom Bayliss, who had been booked for preventing a free-kick from being taken at the end of the first half.

And they had a good spell of pressure, Perry again looking to be the one that would unpick the Boro defence.

That spell though, which lasted no more than five minutes, came either side of two big moments for Stevenage.

The first was a header deserving of the adjective thumping, although Piergianni rarely does anything with a feather touch.

This time there was tensed neck muscles and an effort that flew towards the Shrewsbury goal.

However, it cannoned back off the crossbar and away.

The second moment was the goal, Pressley sending it towards goal probably with the aid of a deflection, the reason the ball went the other way to the keeper.

They ended any resistance for the away team but it took until the 87th minute for the game to be put to bed.

It was another goal that won't make the end of season highlight reel, Alex MacDonald's knock down at the far post after a corner forced in by Reid.

Roberts almost made it three with a firm drive that was cleared off the line by Morgan Feeney and the game finished with Boro making all the forward runs.

Match details

Stevenage: Hegyi, James-Wildin (Smith 71), Butler, N.Thompson, Piergianni, Forster-Caskey, Roberts, Burns, March (Reid 71), Pressley (MacDonald 77), L.Thompson.

Sub (not used): Ashby-Hammond, Freeman, B.Thompson.

Goals: Pressley 57, Reid 87

Booked:

 

Shrewsbury Town: Marosi, Anderson, Feeney, Winchester, Bowman, Udoh, Perry (Dunkley 60), Bayliss (Benning 46), Shipley, Flanagan (Bennett 82), Kenneh (Hernes 90+4).

Subs (not used): Burgoyne, Sraha, Watts.

Goal: 

Booked: Bayliss 45+5, Winchester 74, Kenneh 85

 

HT: Stevenage 0 Watford 0

Added time: 16

Referee: Craig Hicks (Sutton) replaced by either Stephen Brown or Michael Webb.

Attendance: 3,962 (including 412 from Shrewsbury)