Walsall blog - players match fans

Just when we needed it most the Saddlers pulled off a 90 minute performance full of commitment, pride and passion … and the players were pretty good too, writes Walsall blogger Mark Jones.

Fair play to everyone in the Lower Gilbert on Saturday for creating the kind of atmosphere in the ground that we all know we’re capable of.

You could see how well the team responded to this backing during the game and how appreciative they were afterwards.

It also seemed to me that the penalty/sending off incident seemed to lift a weight off our shoulders, the boys stopped feeling sorry for themselves and started making things happen again.

Even when Tommy’s spot kick was saved you got the feeling we were going to keep on until we’d scored. Once again Walsall fans owe a debt of gratitude to Chorley.

An added bonus was how annoyed Ronnie Moore got – like his teams have always played with the Corinthian spirit. My granddad used to say if ya cor tek it, dow dish it out.

On the subject of missed penalties there was much discussion (well a couple of texts anyway) as to who was the last Saddler to miss a spot kick in ‘open play’ (ie not in a regulation shoot out defeat).

The clever money was on Zigor Aranalde against Cardiff in 2003 but that one was followed up by Jorge Leitao (I think), so then we might have to go right back to Gabby Bukran in the first game of the year 2000.

Answers on a postcard if you think otherwise.

On the pitch it was pleasing to see the goalscoring return of the Ish and good to see that DD is trying to find a way of playing with Holmes and Demontagnac, our two most explosive widemen, in the same side.

The return of the Kevin Betsy who’d played so well as an out and out striker at Swindon, as opposed to the largely anonymous Kevin Betsy we’ve seen ever since, was a welcome one.

N’Dour showed us that he can actually play a bit, Richard Taundry is fast becoming a rival to the legendary Chris Marsh for his versatility and everyone else did the jobs asked of them.

Rhys Weston, Ropes and Clayton, when required, all seemed to be back to their best, Ant Gerrard’s standards rarely drop and Tommy Mooney, unsurprisingly, gave us his usual Tommy Mooney-like performance.

That long overdue end to the goal drought surely can’t be far away.

The big question now is how we’ll perform in the last five games. After a great deal of deliberation the answer is obvious – I have absolutely no idea.

Match the effort of the Tranmere game and we can take it right to the wire, the remaining fixtures are winnable but, as we know, that guarantees you absolutely nothing.

A couple of non-performances like those at Leeds and Southend or over-anxious ones like those against Brighton or Crewe and the season will be all over.

In the week when we celebrate our 120th birthday, its fitting that Walsall FC are as unpredictable as ever … there’ll be loads of noise in the away end at Cheltenham though.