Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill hailed his five-star side after their thumping 5-1 win over struggling Cambridge.

The Sky Bet League One fixture at New Meadow beat the big freeze which saw 14 games called off across the English Football League.

United were left wishing the weather had intervened after this horror show, a fourth straight defeat, dropped them deeper into relegation trouble.

For Cotterill’s charges it was a welcome first home win since December 10.

Captain Luke Leahy bookended a super Shrewsbury performance which saw Jordan Shipley, Matthew Pennington and Christian Saydee also get in on the act.

Joe Ironside grabbed a second-half consolation for the shell-shocked U’s.

Cotterill, whose side also put four past Burton last time out, said: “I didn’t think scorelines like these would come, I’d hope they would come but I didn’t expect them.

“I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to say I expected it. This is a tough league, an incredibly tough league.

“I’m delighted to be back in the top half. The third goal was really important because you can switch off; it’s natural. It happens to so many teams.

“There were some great goals. Jordan’s finish was a great finish, but you have to remember the work rate in the build up.

“Christian’s goal was a special goal too. I’m really pleased for him, he’s been great since coming in. And Penno really deserves his goal today as well.

“I wasn’t happy with the goal we conceded. I’m disappointed we didn’t keep a clean sheet.”

It was a tough day at the office for U’s boss Mark Bonner.

He said: “I’m a bit embarrassed by the result and performance in the end.

“The game didn’t need to go like that, the result didn’t need to be like that and the performance didn’t need to go like that.

“We let the game run away from us in the second half. We do what we always do, we started the game really well, but we couldn’t get ahead of the game.

“We gave the referee the chance to give them a penalty because we were too erratic in our defending.

“It’s a tough team to go behind against and then we got caught by the same ball in behind a few times.

“It was game over when they scored the third goal. We got a goal back but the fourth killed us. We were dead towards the end really.

“We were lacking what we really needed to compete. It’s a poor result and a poor afternoon and another one to add to a poor run of results.

“We need to sharpen up and be a heck of a lot better than we have been.”