Cheltenham Town remain without a win from their opening six games after this defeat at Gay Meadow, although Robins manager Steve Cotterill was left scratching his head as to what else his team needed to do.
The Robins created a host of chances and dominated possession for large chunks of the game yet still came away empty-handed.
Cheltenham made a cracking start to the game and could have taken the lead from any one of three chances within the first 15 minutes. They opened Shrewsbury up with a good move only three minutes into the game when Jamie Victory fed Neil Grayson down the left and his cross was met by Mark Yates. The popular midfielder, whose spectacular goal earned the Robins a point at home to Torquay last week, got his header on target but goalkeeper Mark Cartwright got down to make a notable save.
Seven minutes later a cleverly taken free-kick by Russell Milton found Tony Naylor and his nudge into the path of Martin Devaney left him clean through. Once again, however, Cartwright was on the spot to make a good block and Naylor was unable to keep his shot from the rebound under control.
Naylor's trickery fashioned a third chance when he gave full-back Leon Drysdale the slip wide out on the right. His low cross was met by a neat back-heel from Victory but veteran midfielder Mark Atkins, formerly of Blackburn Rovers, kicked it off the line.
Such was Cheltenham's dominance that the home side could barely get out of their own half in the opening 20 minutes, so it was something of a surprise to everyone inside Gay Meadow when they took the lead in the 20th minute.
Wide man Sam Aiston was brought down by Michael Duff but referee Howard Webb played a good advantage as the ball had run on to striker Nigel Jemson. The former Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday man jinked his way into the box, evading two defenders before drilling a rocket shot beyond Carl Muggleton and into the roof of the net.
The Cheltenham players, shellshocked by this sudden turnaround, maintained their composure and stuck to a passing game they had set out on from the start, but Shrewsbury grew in confidence and fell back to close off all avenues towards goal.
With 39 minutes gone Cheltenham found themselves 2-0 down for the fifth game running when Jemson, positioned near the half-way line, hooked the ball over his shoulder and through the Cheltenham defence.
Young striker Luke Rodgers sprinted clear of the defence and beat Muggleton with a low shot that the goalkeeper got a hand to but could not keep out.
The second half featured even more Cheltenham domination than there had been in the first but this time, unlike the previous matches against Swansea and Torquay, they were able to conjure only one goal.
Once again chances came and went with left-back Greg Rioch clearing a Neil Grayson header off the line and Devaney seeing a low drive slapped round the post by Cartwright.
The resulting corner finally brought a goal when Mark Yates jumped between two defenders to head Russell Milton's flag kick into the net. Jemson sent a shot over the bar and Rodgers should have done better with a cross from Jagielka, but for most of the second half it was a case of Cheltenham dominating the play and not finding a way through.
Shrewsbury held on to register their fourth win of the season but even their manager, former Welsh international Kevin Ratcliffe, acknowledged that his team had been fortunate. "I would have been disappointed to have been the visiting manager and not come away with something after that," he said. SHREWSBURY TOWN: Cartwright; Drysdale, Redmile, Heathcote, Rioch; Wilding, Atkins, Jagielka (Murray 81); Rodgers, Jemson, Aiston (Lowe 68). Other subs: Dunbavin, Moss, Tretton.
CHELTENHAM TOWN: Muggleton; Duff, Banks, Hill, Victory; Howells, Yates, Milton (Howarth 90); Devaney (Brough 88), Naylor, Grayson (Hopkins 77). Subs: Book, Walker.
REFEREE: H.M. Webb (Yorkshire)
ATTENDANCE: 3,395