Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:28 am
The first half was poor from us. We let Tranmere at us, failed to close the down which put pressure on our selves. Tranmere deservedly took the lead through Shuker even though he did look offside. When they scored I think most Walsall fans thought here we go again and expecting a poor match and another defeat. How wrong could we be? Last few minutes of the first half we came alive. Nicholls flashed a shot wide from the edge of the area. A few minutes later we equalised when Taundry found a yard of space and drove the ball towards goal, the keeper spilt and Byfield was on hand to tap in. For the last minute or so of the first half we carried on attacking and Deeney was denied by the keeper.
We started the second half off even better than we finished the first. We kept the ball, knocked it round with purpose and attacked. It was by far the best we've played this season, Tranmere couldn't get near us. And as the run of play was going, we took the lead through Deeney. We carried on in a similar fashion until they equalised (which i missed whilst popping to the loo, but I was told it was a wicked deflection :( ) The match evened out abit then, but Nicholls was an ever threat on the righ with Deeney & Byfield causing problems up top. We retook the lead when Nicholls burst down the right taking on Goodison(?) before cutting inside and laying it on a plate for Troy to tap in at the back post. It could have easily been 4 or 5. As mentioned by others Deeney had a good header saved and missed a one-on-one.
Overall, very good win away from home. We showed fighting spirit after going one down and when they pegged us back. Deeney, Byfield & Nicholls were out best players by far, I'd give MOTM to Deeney.
Gilmartin: Solid as he has been lately. Didn't realy have much of a chance with either goals.
Westlake: Very good, Weston will struggle to get back into the team with Westlake's current form.
Smith: Not his best of matches, struggled at times (especially in the air vs Ricketts), but still solid for most the match.
McDonald: Fantastic again. We should try and extend his loan deal.
Vincent: Nothing special, but did the job required of him well
Nicholls: Poor most the first half, but showed why he should start in the 2nd. He was a constand threat and Tranmere couldn't cope with him.
Taundry: Decent. Looked to get forward and passed the ball well.
Mattis: Same old same old. Tough tackling and gives the midfield that bit of grit.
Richards: Indifferent. Decent at times but useless at others. Jones should start on the left instead of him.
Deeney: Fantastic, ran and ran, but was also a constant threat. Deserved his 2 goals. MOTM
Byfield: Fantastic aswell. He looked good, ran at the defence causing problems. Nice to see him get his first goal.
SUBS
O'Keefe: Decent. Didn't have alot to do but most of what he did do was good.