Hereford, who secured a goalless draw at Gay Meadow five weeks ago to earn an Edgar Street replay, endured a miserable afternoon on their return to Shrewsbury, being soundly beaten and having central defender Dean Beckwith ordered off late in the second half following an off the ball incident with two-goal Shrewsbury striker Andy Cooke.
The home side also had the luxury of missing the ensuing penalty when Michael Symes fired the spot-kick over the bar.
Then shortly after Beckwith left the field, midfield dynamo David Edwards netted with a close-range header to put the outcome beyond all doubt.
All in all an afternoon to forget for Hereford boss Graham Turner, who was once again warmly welcomed back to Gay Meadow following his managerial exploits with Shrewsbury in the late 70s and early 80s.
Arguably the biggest surprise of the day came when confirmation arrived the game was definitely on.
Considering the Gay Meadow pitch was covered by flood water earlier in the week, conditions were far better than expected and both sides quickly settled with the visitors having slightly better of the opening exchanges.
Shrewsbury saw their plans disrupted in the 20th minute when striker Derek Asamoah hobbled from the pitch following a spiteful tackle by Hereford defender Alex Jeannin.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 35th minute when Cooke was on hand to net Shrewsbury's opener in spectacular style - scoring with a superb, opportunist, overhead kick from ten yards that looped over the head of Hereford keeper Wayne Brown.
Hereford began the second half brightly and had forced the home side on to the defensive, so it was against the run of play when Cooke doubled his tally in the 66th minute.
After excellent work in winning the ball, Ben Davies delivered a superb centre that Cooke swept home in fine style at the near post.
From there on things just went from bad to worse for Hereford. Fourteen minutes from time Beckwith was dismissed for violent conduct after an incident spotted by the linesman in the penalty area.
Referee Miller produced a red card and then pointed to the penalty spot. Although Symes was unable to convert the 77th minute spot-kick, Shrewsbury were not to be denied a third as 60 seconds later man of the match Edwards rose to score with a fine header.