Even the sight of Father Christmas, Desperate Dan and a couple of super heroes couldn’t transform Stanley’s fortunes on their travels.
As the Reds fans donned their outfits for their annual fancy dress day out, John Coleman’s sides away day run continued on Monday.
Not that the Reds have done badly away from the Crown Ground this season but the boss admitted a few more wins rather than their numerous draws could have taken them into the coveted top three spots instead of into an edgy end to the season in a battle for the top seven.
Statistics can say what you want them to.
The Reds have only three away win this season and only Bradford and Stockport have scored less goals on their travels which some would view as a poor away record.
And, out of their last 18 points on their travels, the Reds have picked up five.
But, on the opposite side of the coin, they have only lost six away from home which puts them in the top six teams in the league.
And they have enjoyed good late wins over promotion rivals Wycombe, as well as Cheltenham and Morecambe, since the turn of the year which has helped propel them into fifth place in the league.
But the dominant aspect of their away trips this season has been draws as Shrewsbury became their 13th one point of the season.
To many, this would be a well-earned point against a side going for automatic promotion who have a good record on home soil and who are one of the in-form teams in the league.
But, at this crucial stage of the season with six teams fighting for five places – one automatic promotion and four play-off places – three points are of vital importance and neither side could seize the advantage.
Coleman admitted he has been frustrated by his promotion-chasing side’s away form.
"The reason why we are not automatically up is that we have drawn too many away games and that showed today – the inability to score when we were on top," he said after the game at the Greenhous Meadow.
"It has plagued us all season. We don’t have that problem at home which is really frustrating.
"I would say a draw was a fair result at Shrewsbury but in the past we have been miles the better team on numerous occasions and not won and if we had won three or four of the draws that we had away from home then we would be comfortably up."
Not that he is taking anything away from his players who deserve to be up challenging for promotion after one defeat in 18 games and they are unbeaten in 11 matches.
"A lot of teams would change places with us and I can’t praise the players enough," he said.
"But we are disappointed when things don’t go right for us and we have set ourselves high standards so when we do turn in possession we are annoyed with each other and annoyed with ourselves. But we will keep plugging away.
"I keep saying it shows how far we have come and sound like a broken record but I am disappointed we haven’t won today.
"But you do only have to look at the size of the two clubs and compare the size and resources available.
"I think Shrewsbury brought ice baths to our place and our lads are lucky to get a shower at home – it shows the difference."
They certainly needed an ice bath on a day bathed in sunshine where both sides seemed nervy with so much at stake.
Stanley settled into their stride quicker and they should have taken the lead on 20 minutes when Luke Joyce started a move in their own half eventually running onto the ball in the penalty area.
His shot produced a wonder save from keeper Ben Smith and the ball bounced out to unmarked Sean McConville.
The 13-goal hitman could have blasted first time but took a touch and lined up a shot but Smith recovered to pull off another stunning save to deny him.
That had the Stanley management with their heads in their hands as the Reds overran Graham Turner’s side in the first half but didn’t have any reward by the break.
However Turner changed it after the break, bringing on winger Mark Wright and switching Jon Taylor onto the left and they began to cause the Reds backline problems.
They increased the pressure with the introduction of striker Matt Harrold as Stanley had to contain periods of Shrews dominance.
Saying that, they did it well with keeper Alex Cisak rarely troubled but it took a solid effort to hold firm and keep their sixth clean sheet on their league travels.
It was nail-biting stuff especially with the Shrews having a couple of late balls into the box and striker Tom Bradshaw coming close but it remained all-square for a point – how vital or not that is will only be known after the final two games.
Coleman added: "I thought we were fantastic in the first half.
"We took the game to Shrewsbury and missed two good opportunities. And then give Shrewsbury their due, they have come out in the second half and had a right go at us.
"We were poor in the second half, we gave the ball away and perhaps put too much into the first half.
"We turned over possession far too easily and were on the backfoot for long periods.
"Having said that I thought we still defended well, there is just the one shot that Alex has had to get down and save.
"We have two big games to play and we have got to try and win both of them now."
