Walsall Res 7 - 2 Bury Res - 1st Half Stampede.

By 4two
October 24 2002

An experienced Saddlers line up ran riot against a young Bury Side. All 7 Walsall goals came in the first half, and it now makes it 20 goals in the last three home games for the reserves.

23.10.02 - Kick Off 2pm. The first half was an eventful one

Walsall Reserves 7-2 Bury Reserves

Goals - Birch 3 ,' Zdrilic 6' 10' , Herivelto 25' 35' 45' Barras 40'

Man of the Match - Herivelto 9

Player Ratings - Ward 6 - Had nothing to do. Wright 8 - Captained the side, good coming forward. Left Back 7 - Steady Performance. Barras 7 - Took his goal well, solid at the back. Gadsby 7 - Did nothing wrong, but made no impact. Stanley 8 - Linked up well with Wright, good service for the forwards. Martinez 7 - Good first half, poor second. Sonner 7 - Steady but not spectacular, appalling language. Herivelto 9 - Tormented the young Bury defence. Zdrilic 9 - Took his goals well, always looking shoot and get in to goal scoring positions. Birch 9 - Could have had more goals, worked hard. SUBS Harris 6 - Could have stopped the first Goal. Bishop 7 - worked hard, but nothing to show for it. Harkness 5 - Did not attempt to get involved. bbb

The first half was an eventful one. The Reserves went straight for kill, and got it , going 7-0 up in the first half.

Bury fielded a very young and seemingly inexperienced side, and they were overwhelmed during the first half.

The Scoring was opened by Gary Birch who fired his shot in to the top right hand corner from the edge of the box after turning his marker. Three minutes later the ball fell to Zdrilic in the penalty box and he flicked it past his opponent before crashing the ball home past the helpless Bury Keeper. Both Herivelto and Stanley were getting a lot of room down the flanks, and with Wright and Bennett overlapping the Bury defence were all over the place. On 10 minutes Wright got away down the flank and played a ball in to Zdrilic who just managed to beat the keeper to the ball, from 6 yards out. 15 minutes later another Mark Wright cross found its way to Herivelto who scored an open goal.

On 35 minutes a Walsall move saw the ball come across the penalty area to Herivelto who was to the left of the goal, just inside the six yard box, and as the keeper moved forward to smother the ball he was able to flick it past him, in to the goal to make it 5-0.

Time and time again Sonner and Martinez were feeding Stanley, Herivelto, Bennett and Wright the ball to whip in the Bury box. Their keeper was looking uncomfortable, and Bury were firmly on the back foot.

With five minutes to go till half time this tricky wing play from the Saddlers won them another free kick. This free kick resulted in Tony Barras volleying home Walsall's 6th goal. The ball was floated in to the box, and Barras found him self unmarked from about 10 yards out, and he connected well with the ball sending it in to the top right hand corner.

Everyone in the stadium was shocked at the 6-0 Scoreline, including the players on the pitch, but they were enjoying it, and just when the fans though that six was it for the first half, Herivelto bust through the center of pitch, advancing with the ball before unleashing a powerful shot that rocketed in to the top right hand corner, rout completed.

Half Time Walsall Reserves 7-0 Bury Reserves

Bury grabbed two goals back in second half, The Saddlers made changes with the impressive Herivelto and Zdrilic making way for Harkness and Bishop while Ward was replaced by Harris in goal. This seemed to affect Walsall's rhythm and they never really got in to the swing of things. Bishop and Birch went close with , The Saddlers had a few corners, but with 7 in the bag you can't blame them for not being desperate to increase their total. Burys' goals were bought on by slack defending from the Saddlers at a stage in the game where there defeat was a certainty. The first was scored by Blakley while the second was a power full shot from Whaley that Harris had no chance of saving. The game petered out in the final minutes, the Bury goals had come on 75 and 80 minutes, and they were merely playing for pride.

Half Time Walsall Reserves 7-2 Bury Reserves

Reaction

The second half was disappointing considering the standards set in the first half. The reserves are an entertaining side and their last three home games have created 20 goals (16 of them for the Saddlers, with 4 against). So, November 13th we face Tranmere Rovers, lets see a few more fans their. The only disappointing aspect of the game was the language of Danny Sonner. In an empty stadium you can here everything. Players swear and lose their rag, but Danny Sonner does it an awful lot. Every time he shouted at the ref or voiced his opinion the sentence included an obscenity, and with a group of school kids watching from the Bankss' Stand he should be proud of himself, they were cheering him as he shouted it. Now that's a community programme !

Who should have forced their way in to Lee's Plans?	Young Mark Wright had a good game at full back. Herivelto, scored a cracker and was a constant threat. Birch and Zrdilic were equally as good as each other and it will be hard for Lee to choose between them. Barras was solid and assured.
Who was disappointing?	Danny Sonner failed to shine, although he didn't put a foot wrong, he didn't make the kind of impact you would expect an experienced Professional too.
How did the Youngsters play?	The young full back had another good game for the reserves. Bishop and Harkness found it hard to get in to the game in the second half.