Walsall 2-2 Barnsley - Match Report

15 MINUTES - GOAL - Vaughan finds space in the box and heads home a cross from the right wing.

30 MINUTES - SUB - Wroe <<<<<< replaces McPhail who picked up a knock in a tussle with Bazeley.

35 MINUTES - GOAL Matty Fryatt converts a Darren Wrack cross getting his 4th goal in as many games.

48 MINUTES - GOAL - The Saddlers allow Tommy Williams space to cross for Conlon who has a free header in the box. Standing had no chance with the close range header. What were Ropes and Embler doing?

50 MINUTES - SUB - Standing <<<<<< replaces Kinsella. Kinsella heads straight down the tunnel injured.

60 MINUTES - SUB - Williams <<<<<< replaces Bazeley. A tactical move which has Taylor move to Right Back.

75 MINUTES - SUB - Atieno <<<<< replaces Fryatt who appears to have some kind of head injury

80 MINUTES - BOOKING - Conlon Booked for a foul on Roper

90 MINUTES - GOAL - Wrack curls a 25 yard free kick in off the post to equalise for the Saddlers.

MATCH REVIEW

This was a very poor performance reminscent of the Colin Lee era. We were unimaginative in the final third, and willing to let the opposition to attack.

We were quite lively at times, but the ball wasn't sticking in the final third. Barnsley included little Chris Shuker who was a real handful and gave the Walsall defence plenty of problems. His running and movement up front gave Barnsley the edge that we lacked.

Daryl Taylor, who could make the same kind of impact for us, failed to shine . Darren Bazeley had a shocking game. He was left exposed in the first half, but Taylor moved over to help him in the second. But time and time again we saw Bazeley was turned inside out by Barnsley forwards.

Barnsley had deserved their lead, but Fryatt worked hard, and it was great to see him get another goal.

Boulding, Wrack and Leitao all went on to have decent goalscoring oppurtunites, but they went in all square at half time.

The second half didn't signal an improvement, we were as bad, if not worse. Barnsley went on to take the lead when more slack marking and a reluctance too attack the ball handed them with a golden oppurtunuty.

Then the Tykes went in to cruise control. We picked up with about 10 minutes to go, as Wrack had effort cleared of the line, yet it seemed as though lady luck wasn't with us.

That was until we were awarded a free kick with just 2 minutes left. We were made to wait as Barnsley time wasted with the wall. Then up stepped Darren Wrack to curl in an inch perfect free kick which he couldn't have placed any better, as it pinged off the inside of post in to the back of Barnsley net.

The Bescot went wild, (A few of the Barnsley fans got a bit nasty) and the Ref blew up for full time. A deserved point? Maybe not, we need to up our game.

It looks like Barnsley will be there, or there abouts come May. They have a strong squad and play some good football.

PASTON, Mark - It's hard to blame him for any of the goals. He commanded his area well, and collected plenty of balls 7/10

BAZELEY, Darren - A very poor first half, explained by his lack of cover? Didn't improve when he had cover. 4/10

EMBLEN, Neil - The pick of our defenders. Was a driving force in the last 10 minutes. Looked a threat from set plays 6/10

ROPER, Ian - Not his best game in a Saddlers shirt. Struggled when facing up to Shuker. Conlon wasn't a problem 7/10

BENNETT, Julian - A mixed bag from Bennett. Looked great at times, then let himself down with silly mistakes like Foul Throws (twice) and poor crosses. 6/10

WRACK, Darren - A real MOTM contender. Played the Merson role for most of the half, floating around, trying to cause trouble. Got in a couple of great goalscoring positions. 7/10

KINSELLA, Mark - Looked comfortable for most of the game. Surprising to see him taken off. He seems to have a mroe complete game than Osborn who was kept on 7/10

OSBORN, Simon - A typical Ossie outing. He kept things going, but didn't do enough to stand out. 6/10

TAYLOR, Daryl - Struggled to get going. Tried hard, worked hard, did his best. Just one of those days. 6/10

LEITAO, Jorge - Another inconsistant performer. Gave the Barnsley defence lots to think about when he had the ball at his feet. Very poor in the air. Struggled with his back to goal. 6/10

FRYATT, Matty - Another great goal. A busy performance. But he faded in the second half (not for the first time this season). 7/10

WILLIAMS, Leroy - Like Taylor, he was denied space to get going and do damage in the final third. 6/10

STANDING, Michael - This lad is a battler. He reminds me of Dean Keates with quality. Like Emblen, a driving force in our late fight back. 8/10

ATIENO, Taiwo - A pleasing performance. Gave us an aerial prescance up front, as we tried despratly to get our selves back in to the game. 7/10