Shrewsbury Town 2 - 1 Everton

Shrewsbury 2-1 Everton: Cup classic

Updated: January 4, 2003, 5:36 PM UK

Journeyman striker Nigel Jemson dumped Premiership Everton out of the FA Cup with a precious double as Shrewsbury recorded the surprise of the FA Cup third round with a 2-1 victory at Gay Meadow.

• Ratcliffe over the moon

The 33-year-old former Nottingham Forest man, currently playing for his 13th different club, smashed home a 38th-minute free-kick and then, after substitute Niclas Alexandersson had levelled on the hour, glanced an 89th-minute header past Richard Wright to seal a famous victory.

It was little more than the Division Three outfit deserved on a day when Jemson and 21-year-old sidekick Luke Rodgers outshone man-of-the moment Wayne Rooney to give manager Kevin Ratcliffe, a Goodison Park legend, a momentous victory over the club he supported as a boy.

It could have been even worse for the visitors, Wright had kept them in the game with saves from both Jemson and Rodgers before the deadlock was finally broken.

Everton were far from at their best and could have few complaints about the final scoreline, although they left Shropshire knowing they really should have made the best of a bad job by hanging on to the lifeline handed them by Alexandersson's strike to take the Shrews back to Merseyside.

The draw which pitched these two sides into battle was the stuff of FA Cup dreams, the lowly underdogs on their own rain-soaked pitch meeting one of the Premiership's form sides.

Town boss and Everton legend Ratcliffe pitted his wits against a side managed by David Moyes - who once plied his trade as a player at Gay Meadow.

The Merseysiders, despite a run of four successive Premiership draws, arrived in Shropshire still flying high, while their opponents ran out having suffered mixed fortunes in recent weeks, losing 6-0 at Boston and 5-1 at Rushden and Diamonds either side of a 4-1 home win over Bury.

But an untutored onlooker might have had difficulty identifying the David and the Goliath as the Shrews put their league form behind them and went for the jugular.

Had it not been for a superb 12th-minute save by Wright, who somehow managed to change direction to get his hand to Jemson's instinctive header, they would have given Moyes even more to think about.

And but for a brief flurry of activity at the other end during which Tomasz Radzinski saw one shot blocked by goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin and another hacked away by defender Peter Wilding, the Everton boss had much to discuss as he welcomed his charges back into the dressing room at the break.

Wright kept the visitors on level terms once again with 33 minutes gone when he turned livewire Rodgers' shot against the upright.

But there was nothing he could do to prevent Jemson's curling free-kick from nestling in the top corner five minutes later after Thomas Gravesen halted Rodgers' progress illegally 20 yards out.

It was all a bitter disappointment for the travelling supporters, who saw little of the blistering form which has propelled 17-year-old Rooney into the limelight in recent weeks.

Moyes made his move at the break when he sent on Alexandersson in place of Gravesen, and the change was to prove vital - although not before the visitors survived a major scare.

Jemson's pass allowed Rodgers to cut in from the left and drive at full-back Peter Clarke, but when he went down under the full-back's rash challenge, referee Steve Dunn waved play-on.

Everton had to wait until the hour-mark for their equaliser, and it came courtesy of an error from the unfortunate Dunbavin, whose mishit clearance allowed the visitors to mount an attack.

Scot Gemmill powered his way to the edge of the box before sliding a pass inside full-back Alex Smith for Alexandersson to fire low past the keeper's right hand to level.

That was the signal for the Premiership outfit to step on the gas, and although Jamie Tolley forced a 73rd-minute save from Wright, it was they who looked the more likely winners.

Alexandersson shot across goal from a tight angle 15 minutes from time and substitute Li Tie miskicked with his first touch after Radzinski had left him with the goal a his mercy two minutes later.

Rooney tried to catch Dunbavin off his line with a cheeky 84th-minute chip, but his effort comfortably cleared the crossbar.

But there worse to follow for the Premiership outfit when Jemson rose to meet an 89th-minute free-kick from former Forest team-mate Ian Woan and glance a header past Wright to clinch a remarkable victory.

Ratcliffe over the moon

Shrewsbury boss Kevin Ratcliffe was tonight reflecting on the best moment of his managerial career after seeing his side dump Premiership Everton out of the FA Cup.

'It was deserved,' he said. 'The thing that I can say about it is sometimes you need a little bit of luck in the cup, but I thought we deserved it the way we played today.

'I've got 11 heroes out there, and the lads that have come on have done a job as well, so we've deserved what we've got.

'It has surprised me. You put that big question mark: How are we where we are in the league? If we play like that, we won't just be higher up the league, we'll be out of the league.

'It was a good cup tie and a nice little finish.'

The result was all the more poignant for Ratcliffe because of the opponents, and he admitted the implications had not yet sunk in.

'I don't know,' he said. 'It's a little bit strange, I must admit, but enjoyable. All I was thinking about was 'Let's hope they don't break on us and get a killer at the end.' And then we go and get it.

'I'm sure my chairman would have liked a draw and to go back to Goodison, but I'll take the win.'

Town's win was in stark contrast to the day in May 2000 when they met Exeter in a Third Division game that could have seen them drop into the Conference.

'There's so much going into the games,' he said. 'The Exeter game, there was so much on it. At the end of the day, if we lose this game, at least the club survives. The Exeter game, the club might not have survived.

'But definitely, yes, this is the best.'

Ratcliffe did not want to single out individuals, but had little choice but to pay tribute to 33-year-old Jemson.

'It's very unfair to single people out,' he said. 'I know Nigel's going to take a few of the headlines with his goals, but everybody's a hero today.'

Everton boss David Moyes has enjoyed a series of highs since taking over the Goodison Park hot-seat, particularly this season, but he admitted this was the biggest low so far.

'It's the first big setback we've had since I took over,' he said. 'We have to address that, but we can't do anything about this game now, we have to move on.

'When we got back into it, we probably should have gone on and won the game. The period in the game when we went to 1-1, I felt that the chances we had, you would expect the quality of players we have to finish the opportunities they had.

'They were squandered and that gave Shrewsbury the chance to stay in the game and get a goal if they got an opportunity, and they did that. Shrewsbury played very well today. We are disappointed and we know we can play much better.

'There are a lot of nice things being said about Everton, and probably for the first time, there'll be a lot of un-nice things said about us, and deservedly so.

'We didn't play well but I don't want to take any credit away from Shrewsbury, who did deserve their victory.'