Suicidal Specialists : Saddlers do it again !
By 4two
October 29 2002
The Saddlers managed to throw away two goal leads on two occasions during this 7 goal thriller at the Bescot. Some suicidal defending, and good finishing made sure that the Walsall faithful saw another action packed game.
Coventry City 0-0 Walsall
| Goals :Corica 2; (Walsall) Junior 5' 53' (Walsall) Freedman 58' (Palace) Johnson 29' 64' 90' (Palace) | |
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| Man of the Match: Junior ( Walsall ) | |
| vvv | |
| Walsall: Walker, Bazeley,
Hay, Roper, Aranalde, Wrack, O'Connor, Simpson, Corica, Leitao, Junior (Zdrilic
65'). Subs:
Ward , Barras , Sonner , Herivelto Walsall Form -
Poor |
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| Palace:
Kolinko , Butterfield , Popovic
, Powell , Granville , Johnson , Mullins , Derry , Gray , Freedman ,
Adebola Subs: Michopoulos , Riihilahti , Black , Antwi , Rubins Palace Form Average / Good / Outstanding. |
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TheSaddlersFC Full Time Match Report
The first half was a bolt out of the blue. After Steve Corica had drilled his effort in from the middle of the area on two minutes, and Junior had slid his shot from the left hand side of the penalty box home on 6 minutes, it looked like the game was going to be plain sailing for the Saddlers. At this stage no Walsall fan or Player thought they would go on to lose the game,
Junior had another two chances in the opening 10 minutes, but, neither amounted to anything. The game then turned in to a scrappy affair before on 27 minutes Steve Corica found space to whip a ball in to the box which junior meat with an acrobatic bicycle kick which Kolinko parried. Straight after this Palace broke forward with the pacy Adebola, Freedman and Johnson threatening to be a handful, and it was Johnson's shot from the left of the Walsall penalty box with that flew in to the Walsall goal. The Saddlers had sat back and invited the Eagles to press forward, and Palace got what they deserved.
The 15 minutes up till half time were dominated by Palace, with them having a number of corners and half chances falling to Adebola and Freedman.
Half Time Walsall 2-1 Palace.
Danny Sonner was bought on in place for Martin O'Connor in the second half, after a cynical foul on O'Connor during the first half left him unable to continue.
The Second half started with chances for both sides. Freedman had a header, while Darren Bazeley shot over the bar after a mazy run in field from the right flank. Their was no doubt the game was not over, it was just a matter of who was going to strike first. Corica went close on 50 minutes, before he set up Juniors second goal of the game with header which sent him through on goal, leaving him the task of beating Kolinko from 18 yards out.
At 3-1 up, it seemed unlikely that Palace would be able to come back in to the game, and all the Saddlers had to do was shut them out and nullify any attempts to get back in to the game. But, the Saddlers were unable to do this and Freedman was allowed the space to shoot from 18 yards out on 57 minutes, putting Palace right back in the frame. 5 minutes after Palaces second goal they got their third, thanks to an Andy Johnson header from a Gray Corner, as Johnson, the smallest player on the pitch somehow found an opportunity to beat the Saddlers defence in the air.
The Palace goal really bought the game to life and 9 minutes later Wrack volleyed over the bar, while Danny Granville saw his header go wide. With 15 minutes left Junior was replaced by Herivelto, as the Saddlers looked to hold on to their 1 goal lead. With 7 minutes left, Walsall had the chance to find a winner. Jorge Leitao saw his shot blocked by keeper from six yards out after some creative play from Corica had created a shooting opportunity for him, which rebound to Herivelto who lacked the composure to put away the last chance the Saddlers were to have.
Both sides were looking to snatch a winner right until the
final minute, and it was Walsall pushing men forward which led to them conceding
a fourth goal and all three points. You could call it both naive and brave to
load the opposition penalty box with players during injury time, and it turned
out to be naive when Tommy Black and Johnson
outpaced Roper and Aranalde to slot home the winner on 90 minutes.
Full Time : Walsall 3-4 Crystal Palace
TheSaddlersFC Player Form
We could have player form for each half, and it would be very very different. Some may say Walker should have done better the Johnson's first. Again Aranalde was singled out by the opposition as a potential weakness, and it could be argued that 2 or maybe 3 of tonight's goals were courtesy of shenanigans or weaknesses in Aranaldeville. The Center halves never really looked comfortable, their distribution and communication was poor throughout, and disappointing compared to what we have seen from them in previous games. Wrack played well and worked hard. Simpson never got a hold of the game, and struggled to compete at times. When O'Connor went off injured Walsall seemed to lose their direction and purpose. Corica seemed to be effective during the periods when Walsall were on top of the game, it was a shame he was on the periphery of the proceedings. Junior and Jorge again linked up well. Junior did tend to tire, but is improving fast.
After Match Reaction -
Reaction : 4two - 5 games without a win. The flames of the relegation zone are causing us to get hot and bothered. A Defeat on Saturday will pull us closer in to the flames. This evening was the third game in which we have scored three goals at home, but failed to get the three points. The communication at the back is non-existent, and with Ward to come in to it on Saturday it can only get worse. Aranalde, Roper and Hay produced inconsistent performances today. They were all guilty of sloppy marking, or poor decisions. The positive points are that we have scored a bag full...again. Junior, Corica, Jorge and Wrack seem to be developing a good understanding when coming forward.
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Who's place may be under threat ? |
The two center halves, Simmo wasn't hot, while Sonner and Herivelto didn't do their causes any good, |
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How Did Colin Lee do today? |
Well, how much of it can we pin on him. He did sub Junior, the man who looked like he could pull something out the bag, but did he send all our players on an expedition to the Palace penalty box on 90 minutes ? Did he tell the players to sit on the edge of the box every time we had a lead of any kind? We will have to look at his after match comments. |
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