GOALS returned to the Recreation Ground on Saturday, when top scorer Dean Foot hammered four past Shepton Mallet.

The Shrews leapfrogged their guests into seventh place in the league.

With goals having been in short supply in recent weeks, manager Stuart Withers is hopeful that the margin of victory will help kick-start another good run of form for his side.

He said: "I can't say that we played any differently - but we scored - that's what made the difference."

However, Withers stressed that Shrews had not had things all their own way.

The two sides started the day separated by just one point and each carved out their fair share of chances in a competitive game.

He said: "Their top scorer Alex Lomax missed a couple of headers that I would have been disappointed to see us fail to score from. Things could have been very different."

Foot opened the scoring after being brought down in the box. He picked himself up and took his revenge by calmly converting the penalty.

Lee Weeks put him though for his second before the break.

Shrews went 3-0 up early in the second half before Shepton Mallet pulled one back. But Foot made sure late on, Craig Lewis setting him up for his and Shrewton's fourth.

Another bright spot was the return of Jese Walters to full fitness. The striker, a long-term absentee with a broken leg, came through the full 90 minutes.

On Saturday, Shrews travel to bottom club Weston St John's, recent recipients of an 8-1 drubbing by Elmore.