Match Report Extra - Saddlers 1-0 Gillingham

Junior 7'

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Walker 90'

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Walker, Bazeley, Hay, Pollet, Roper, Wrack, O'Connor, Sonner, Corica, Leitao, Junior. Subs: Ward, Carbon, Birch, Wright, Simpson.

Brown, Saunders, Ashby, Hope, Edge, Perpetuini, Smith, Hessenthaler, Shaw, King, Tommy Johnson.Subs: Bartram, Nosworthy, Ipoua, James, Sidibe.

Junior

Shaw

 The Saddlers started brightly and took the lead after 6 minutes as Leitao broke down the left wing and slid a pinpoint pass across to Corica who laid the ball off for Brazilian goal machine Junior to bang home from 17 yards. 

From this point the Saddlers went downhill, unable to pass, tackle and pick up opposition players. However, another superb break through the center from Jorge left him with a clear sight of goal. With the goal at his mercy he passed the ball tamely to the visiting keeper.

 The second half was as poor as the first with the Saddlers  looking like a poorly organised shambles.

 Gillingham controlled the entire half and were unfortunate not to get a second half penalty as Roper brought down their forward in the box. The referee ran to the spot, looked at his linesman who fortunately kept his flag down. 

Walsall had a chance to make it 2-0 midway through the second period as Junior took a quick free kick from a tight angle which Brown just managed to push wide of his post.

The two most exiting moments of the half came when Wrack and Leitao had bursts through the middle of the park shrugging of Gills defenders but were unable to wriggle their way through to goal.

Although The Saddlers allowed Gillingham all the space they wanted,  they somehow didn't seriously threaten Walkers goal. Their biggest danger had been the inventive Shaw who had carried the fight for the Gills on his  the first half, and the play up well for the Gills in the second.

The Second half saw the Gills throw a lot of men forward, and the Saddlers sit and wait, and although The Saddlers struggled to clear the ball at times with Birch, Sonner and Wrack all miss-hitting the ball on a number of occasions, the back four of Walker, Pollet Hay and Roper dealt with the aerial threat Gillingham were posing.

The final moments saw the Gills have a flurry corners because the exhausted Leitao was unable to keep hold of the ball up front and allow the Walsall defence a breather. The referee blew his whistle and the Walsall faithful went home relieved to have got a much needed 3 points.

Reaction : 4two - The performance was not the most important thing for me today. The important thing was 3 points and a clean sheet. Id rather have won 1-0 today than 4-2. I think it was important for us to consolidate. The new stand experience was a good one. No real problems that I could see, i reckon it may take a bit of time for us to find our voices, but it looks promising.

Reaction: Roger_Mellie - Since Osborn got injured we have got 15 points from 17 games. That's relegation form. Hurry back Osborn! 3 wins and 6 draws from 17 games. Today we apparently didn't have a shot on target. Still according to Hess we were unlucky. (GillsConnect)

Reaction: TeamTalk.com -  Gillingham pressed hard for a late and undeserved equaliser (TeamTalk.Com)

 Reaction: BBC.co.uk/football  - Walsall were the more dangerous on the attack but Walsall wasted a hatful of chances against Gillingham at the Bescot Stadium and in the end were grateful to their Brazilian striker Junior (BBC)

Reaction: Ian Hemmings New stand same old Walsall! neither team looked any good how the ref didn't give them a penalty i don't know

Reaction: 7inchuknowwho - Think CL still has lots to defensively, we appear to have no idea as to who is doing what in the back four, and so this left us looking very panicky at times. I do thank heavens for decent referees assistant though coz i'm sure we'd have been calling for blood if we hadn't been given a penalty!!

At half time we saw some of the Walsall greats like Taylor, Richards and Mick Kearns out on the pitch, a nice touch by the club.

From up in the new stand the atmosphere sounded fine, but not electric.  The lower tier sounded quiet, but didn't look all that empty. The family stand looked a bit bear, but that may be because of the family prices in the new stand.

It was very spacious from under the new stand, It can only be presumed  that the club intend to develop the insides a bit more? because they were intending on naming a suite after Gilbert Alsop.

Many fans may wonder if it is possible and logical for the lower tier  to share these facilities, especially when you consider how spacious they are. But the only problem would be tier hopping.

It did take a bit of time to get out afterwards, but no one was moaning, the view had been good while the que for the food kiosks had been moving very fast.

The club must be commended on its handling of the day. It seemed to run very smoothly with no problems with our stewards proving that yet again they are among the best around.

Pete Waterman enjoyed a bit of Banter with the Gills fans who goaded him about his weight, Pete is a real character, and a great ambassador for Balti Pies.

Lets hope we can fill the ground, the table below shows how many clubs fill their grounds, and so far this season the Bescot has been 60% full, Is this a  figure that will drop because of the new stand?

The half season ticket prices were in the programme today, and we should expect them to sell well.  

The Purple stand was supposedly sold out today. In my particular block their was the odd seat here and their, which is possibly from people who reserved a seat but never went through with the transfer.

One thing that would be interesting to find out is if  Stewards are checking peoples season tickets.  For instance, a fan could well have a season ticket with a stub full of tickets which allow them to get in to either tier. They may  have not stuck all their stickers over their stubs, thus allowing them to stand down stairs if they feel like it, or maybe even give a sticker to a friend. This is not being highlighted to spoil a possible scam, or come across as a smart alec, but merely to highlight issues of possible safety.

Could we end up with too many people down on the terrace for a game? What if the atmosphere isn't to the liking of fans who have transferred and they decide to go back "home"?  What if the club have already sold fans tickets for the terracing and people from upstairs who are not sticking their new labels on decide to go downstairs, would the turnstiles lock and not let people in when they reach a certain number? We don't know if the club have addressed these issues. All we know is that the ones of us committed to our new seats in the Purple Stand will have labeled all our stubs, but surely not everyone has, especially those who have noticed that this is a good opportunity to try it out.