Ryan Bowman: Striker's hat-trick two weeks after heart palpitations delights Shrewsbury boss
- Published
Shrewsbury Town are the ninth club Ryan Bowman (right) has played for during his career
Shrewsbury Town manager Steve Cotterill hailed a "perfect hat-trick" by Ryan Bowman - just two weeks after the striker suffered heart palpitations.
Bowman had to go off in the 36th minute of Shrewsbury's defeat at Ipswich on 9 October and was taken to hospital.
But the 29-year-old netted with his head, left foot and right foot as they beat Cambridge United 4-1 on Saturday.
"It can go in three times off his knee for all I care," Town boss Cotterill told BBC Radio Shropshire.
"But it was a nice hat-trick for him, he took them very well."
The game was Bowman's third since his heart scare a fortnight earlier, having been speedily cleared to return by doctors who instructed him to alter his medication.
The hat-trick was the second treble of Bowman's career - he also scored three for Exeter City in a 6-1 victory over Colchester in November 2020.
And it ended a lean spell of only one goal in his first 13 appearances after joining Shrewsbury in the summer.
"That's what we need to see a little bit more of. That's the Ryan Bowman that I signed," said Cotterill.
"I'm not saying he's going to score three goals every week, because he's not, and I'm not saying he won't have a bad game every now and then, because he will - but that was really important for him and he has had a couple of tough weeks, so we're pleased for Ryan.
"The boys were just talking about it being the perfect hat-trick - right foot, left foot and header."
Shrewsbury are 20th in League One, just one point above the relegation places, but Cotterill was delighted with their second-half effort after Cambridge had equalised.
"It could have been more. We think we could have scored four before half-time," he added.
"The second half we took our chances whereas we didn't take them in the first half. We were on the front foot against a really dangerous opponent, who have had some very good results this season."