Shrewsbury 1 City 2

 Steve Williams changed his mind about a pre-match hair cut – and saved City’s latest three points in the process.

The former barber had planned to give his barnet a quick once-over on Saturday morning.

And after Shrewsbury came within a hair’s breadth of stopping the fourth win on the bounce, his team-mates were mighty relieved Williams never got round to it.

As the game went into a seventh nerve-jangling minute of added time, Dean Holden’s cross looked to have put the equaliser on a plate for Lewis Neal.

But as the Shrewsbury substitute prepared to bury the close-range header, Williams stretched to get the faintest of touches to divert the ball away from his waiting bonce.

“He just about nicked it away,” admitted Michael Flynn. “Willo was going to cut his hair in the morning. If he had done, I don’t think he’d have got to that ball!”

It was the closest of shaves for City who, on the balance of play, were slightly fortunate to escape Shropshire with a third away win in a fortnight.

They did get lucky at crucial times – none more so than with Jake Simpson’s bar-rattling effort that bounced down on the goal-line and back out.

But Lady Luck and Stuart McCall have never been close buddies since he took over, so any rub of the green has been long overdue, as the City chief acknowledged.

McCall said: “In the two and a half years I’ve been here it’s usually gone against us. I wish we could have had that bit of luck in the last nine games of last season and then we might have made the play-offs.

“I feel for Simmo (Shrewsbury boss Paul Simpson) because I know what it’s like when things go against you. We had our slice of luck but we dug in there and it’s a massive victory.

“We’ve gone to Rochdale and Shrewsbury and won now, and that will be great for our confidence and self-belief.”

Forget the so-called game of two halves, Saturday was one of three thirds. Two spells of total Shrewsbury pressure bookmarked a middle phase controlled by the visitors.

For the first quarter of an hour, the ball did not leave the City half as Shrewsbury came storming out of the blocks.

The height of Dave Hibbert and Nathan Elder up front and the two hulking centre halves were always going to pose problems at set-pieces. Four corners nearly produced goals every time as City looked vulnerable in the air.

The fact that it remained goalless under the constant bombardment was largely down to Simon Eastwood, who pulled off two crucial saves before his team had got going.

The first came from Elder’s glancing header, which the keeper must have seen late but he still managed to stick out a strong enough right hand to deny the goal.

Then it was Hibbert’s turn to be frustrated as the one-time City striker’s acrobatic overhead kick was deftly turned round the post by the keeper’s fingertips.

It’s been a good week for Eastwood, who is slowly but surely winning over the doubters.

Flynn always knew the rookie stopper had what it takes after their time together at the Galpharm. And he is delighted to see the youngster coming to the fore.

The Welshman said: “I know Easty’s had a little bit of stick from the fans but he’s only a young lad. He’s going to be nervous playing for such a big club as Bradford.

“But he’s showed his qualities out there. If they’d scored early, it would have been a different game.

“Easty was outstanding in the first 15 minutes before we’d really got off the bus, and made some absolutely amazing saves.”

The Alamo averted, City promptly struck from their opening attack.

Eastwood’s long ball upfield was flicked on by James Hanson, and Flynn picked up possession in the box, squaring for Gareth Evans to slide home.

McCall’s regular assumption that goals change games was never more evident. Shrewsbury promptly lost their way and all the danger came from the other direction.

McCall had persisted with the same 4-3-3 approach from the previous two league wins, with Flynn and James O’Brien willing runners from midfield to support Hanson and the two wide men.

City gobbled up second balls and snapped into challenges as Shrewsbury’s early assurance quickly disintegrated.

The second goal ten minutes before the break was worth the admission money alone. Again it started with Hanson’s head on the end of an Eastwood clearance, O’Brien shuttling the ball into the path of Flynn, who sent it screaming into the bottom corner from 30 yards.

Shrewsbury, usually the most miserly of hosts, looked dishevelled and ragged and were booed off at half-time for their troubles. Having laid the ghost of Rochdale, City were well on the way to consigning another supposed bogey ground to the scrapyard.

Flynn nearly had a third with another drive soon after the break before Simpson decided to breathe new life into his side with a double change. Elder was sacrificed, and the arrival of Neal and Jake Robinson gave the home side an injection of pace and a fresh edge.

After Scott Neilson had driven over from a tight angle, the game entered its third phase. The last 25 minutes (or should that be 32) were a carbon copy of that opening phase dominated by Shrewsbury.

The two-goal advantage did not look quite so impregnable as Neal’s left-footed free-kick caught Eastwood in no man’s land in the City penalty area.

Kelvin Langmead nodded the ball past him - and then watched in horror as the ball bounced up against the bar and away with nobody near enough to scramble it home.

The home fans rediscovered their voices and Shrewsbury answered the call with the goal that had been coming.

Robinson turned Luke O’Brien to create the space for Dean Holden’s cross, and Hibbert got across Williams to glance in his fifth of the season.

We were back to the Alamo.

A lone response from Neilson was pushed away before Shrewsbury came again. Neal sent Simpson, the manager’s son, clear of the defence and an equaliser appeared inevitable.

As McCall berated the assistant referee - and the debutant did look a couple of yards offside of last man O’Brien - Simpson smashed the ball past Eastwood. Again it crashed against the City bar before pinging down on the goal-line and away.

McCall threw on Jon Bateson to make a five-man defence but City’s inexperience was highlighted as they failed to keep the ball. Instead of taking the sting out the game, they kept presenting Shrewsbury with possession again.

Six extra minutes were tacked on but it was well into the seventh when City were finally breached. Well, they would have been but for the bristling determination of their centre half.