Walsall 5 Crawley 0 - Report and pictures
On the night the floodgates opened for Walsall to secure their League One status, the only pity was there were so few there to see it.
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The attendance of 3,296 was comfortably the lowest for a league fixture at the Banks's this season.
What a show those who stayed at home missed.
Walsall scored five goals, three of them excellent and two of those in the spectacular category as they blew away sorry Crawley.
Jordy Hiwula ended his own personal goal drought by finishing a fine move to open the scoring early on.
The on-loan Manchester City striker then put the game beyond doubt with a strike into the top corner, before Kieron Morris capped another excellent performance with the goal of the night.
Andy Taylor's effort with nine minutes to go came courtesy of a huge deflection but there could be no arguing with a scoreline made even more emphatic by substitute Jordan Cook, who added the fifth late on.
Meanwhile, supporters who just a few days ago wondered if their team would ever score again are now wondering whether they will ever concede after this, their fourth straight clean sheet.
Smith made just one change from the team which won 1-0 against Fleetwood on Saturday, with Jordy Hiwula replacing Jordan Cook out wide.
For the visitors, Anthony Wordsworth replaced the injured Marvin Elliott in midfield, lining up alongside former Kidderminster Harriers man Lee Fowler.
The setting sun and empty seats at kick-off meant this could almost be an August pre-season friendly rather than a game of such vital importance.
Walsall began with encouraging purpose and went close to carving open the visitors on at least three occasions in the opening 10 minutes.
That was without managing to give visiting keeper Brian Jensen any more trouble than a stinging drive which the veteran stopper punched away.
But when a goal did arrive 16 minutes in, the hosts made it look easy as Sawyers fed Morris, who slipped in Hiwula to slide a finish into the bottom corner.
The lead might have been doubled soon after had Lanre Oyebajo not been alert enough to clear Sawyers' pull back over his own bar.
From the corner, Ben Purkiss went close to a rare goal with a shot which flew a yard past the post with Jensen rooted to the spot.
The keeper then had to make a late adjustment to beat away a Michael Cain effort which seemed to move in the air, before Hiwula went down under Oyebajo's challenge as they duelled for the loose ball.
Goals: Hiwula 16, 65, Morris 67, Taylor 81, Cook 90.
Walsall (4-2-3-1): O'Donnell, Purkiss, J Chambers, O'Connor, Taylor, Cain (Mantom 66 ), A Chambers, Morris, Sawyers (Forde 78), Hiwula, Bradshaw (Cook 72).
Substitutes not used: MacGillivray (GK), Downing, Grimes, Henry.
Crawley (4-4-1-1): Jensen, Oyebanjo, Bradley, Youga, Dickson (Edwards 46), Tomlin, Fowler (Smith 72), Wordsworth, Young, Morgan (Pogba 65), McLeod.
Substitutes not used: Price (GK), Harrold, Cofie, Bawling.
Referee: Michael Bull (Chelmsford)
Attendance: 3,296[/breakout]
Referee Michael Bull's decision to wave play on and not award a spot-kick brought a furious touchline reaction from Smith.
He's never shy in mentioning the fact his team have not been awarded a penalty at the Banks's all season.
Hiwula saw a shot deflected wide after being found again by the excellent Morris, while Bradshaw headed over at a corner and skipper Adam Chambers shot off target.
Crawley, for whom the game meant so much, were horribly unadventurous and other than an early Izale Mcleod shot failed to threaten in the entire first 45 minutes.
The visitors were at least starting to show some drive on the counter but substitute Gwion Edwards wasted a great position with a poor cross after Wordsworth had broken through the middle.
But they had Jensen to thank for keeping the deficit at one, first when he tipped a swerving, dipping 30-yard effort from Cain wide of the post.
He did so again soon after, beating away Bradshaw's powerful drive from the corner of the box.
It was a refreshingly direct move from the striker in space as, too often, the Saddlers were proving their own worst enemy by failing to make the most of numerical advantage on the counter-attack.
On one occasion, it was the otherwise excellent Sawyers who picked the wrong option by playing in Adam Chambers out wide, rather than trying to find Bradshaw.
You feared they might live to regret it until, with 25 minutes to go, they found the killer instinct in spectacular fashion.
Hiwula had been guilty of a few heavy touches but made no mistake as he brought down a Sawyers flick in one motion and in the next sent a vicious shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.
With the crowd still reverberating from the quality of the strike, Morris bettered it with a shot which dipped over Jensen and went in off the bar.
Bradshaw curled a shot just over as the Saddlers looked to run riot, while Sawyers struck an effort too close to Jensen.
If there was a hint of a deflection in Morris' goal, the fourth was obvious.
Taylor's drive struck the shoulder of Wordsworth to completely wrongfoot Jensen on its way into the top corner.
Cook then added the fifth in the 90th minute when he collected Forde's pass and stroked the ball into the corner.
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