Shrewsbury boss Micky Mellon all smiles after sinking Sheffield United

Shrewsbury's goals came from Sullay Kaikai, Ian Black, Scott Vernon and James Collins, with Conor Sammon and Dean Hammond scoring for the hosts.

United took the lead in the 17th minute when Sammon applied the finishing touch to a piercing pass from Jose Baxter.

Kaikai levelled with an unstoppable shot into the top corner of George Long's goal on 25 minutes and, j ust moments later, United failed to clear and Black was on hand to put the visitors in front.

After neat play by Kaikai and Junior Brown on the left-hand side, Vernon tapped in from close range to extend Shrewsbury's lead in the 35th minute.

Captain Collins then added a fourth shortly after half-time, finishing off a swift counter attack.

A well-placed header by Hammond on 65 minutes proved to be a mere consolation for the shell-shocked home side who are now without a win in five.

Mellon said: "It was a fantastic performance. We were determined to come here and have a go and measure ourselves against a strong Sheffield United side.

"It was important for us to come here and give a good account of ourselves because we don't want to just make the numbers up.

"Every credit to the boys because I think they defended superbly. When we did get the ball back, we knocked it around and scored some great goals.

"I just felt that we would get back in it and the boys showed character to battle back. To come and score four goals at Sheffield United is a fantastic away performance.

"The frustrating thing is that it's taken us this long to hit a 90 minutes like that. We showed what we're capable of. The work still has to carry on and we now have a base to work from."

Sheffield United manager Nigel Adkins said: "We started the game brightly and I thought it was a good goal from Conor Sammon. The game just went away from us with three goals before half-time, which was not good enough from my point of view.

"We went very direct and they countered and got another goal early in the second half so it makes it more challenging. We changed the tactics to try and get in the game.

"You cannot hide from the fact that you cannot concede four goals if you want to be challenging. It's very disappointing.

"We've got a big game at the weekend and the players have got to get themselves ready for that.

"I've got to find a way of winning football matches. There are consequences that will follow tonight's result and I need time to reflect on what has happened. It is not acceptable."