Blog: Walsall actually won a penalty shoot out!

Walsall won a penalty shoot out - I'm just not used to typing those words, writes blogger Mark Jones.

No, this is not a hoax, I'm not joking, it is not April the first. The Saddlers really did prevail from the spot kick lottery.

Furthermore, the victory was from 4-2 down and it came on the back of the second half turnaround from 2-0 down at the interval. Walsall can never be accused of taking the easy option.

Credit has to go to the character, spirit and commitment of the players for a steely performance in adversity, when it would have been really easy to go under.

If we were guilty of some lax defending for both goals conceded, even if their first could well be described by a former manager as a bit of a 'worldy', then we certainly made up for it in the second half.

So where do I start with the plaudits? The game turned on Ben Purkiss providing possibly the pass of the season to set up Anthony Forde's well-taken goal.

Forde's performance off the bench was one of his best in a Walsall shirt and his penalty kick was pivotal.

Arguably, Mathieu Manset put in his best shift as a Saddler too, and how cool was his finish to take things to sudden death?

Then there was Michael Cain's wonderful equaliser. Any chance of extending his loan until May, Leicester City?

Romaine Sawyers and 'Super' Tom Bradshaw finished like you'd expect them to, although Sawyers was quite orthodox, part of me wondered if we'd see a 'Romaine Rabone.'

Bradshaw proved he is human after all with a one-on-one that didn't end up in the back of the net, but it was good to have you back Tom.

The Chambers twins were simply the Chambers twins and surely we have seen the next new star in Rico Henry (or is it Henri?).

Goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell probably kept us in the competition with his stunning save at 2-0 early in the second half and you knew he'd save at least one of Tranmere's penalties

To top it all was Paul Downing. I was surprised to see a centre-half go up for penalty six, but he absolutely buried it. Did I detect that a few of the players are beginning to grow in belief?

Tactically, manager Dean Smith was spot on himself by slightly changing our shape when we needed it. And as Paul, ROD and quite a few other players acknowledged on social media, our support was absolutely first class.

The upshot of Tuesday's premier performance on Merseyside is that we go into 2015 still in the JPT and one step closer to the W-word.

Concentrate on the league? No chance, I'm going to spend the festive period daydreaming about a Northern Area Final. Marvellous.

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