Eastleigh 0 Walsall 3: Saddlers ease into FA Cup second round with comfortable victory
Mat Sadler praised his players’ “professional” performance as they eased into the second round of the FA Cup, writes Kieran Gallop.
After the scars of last season’s collapse and Wembley woes, the Saddlers have bounced back at the start of the 25/26 campaign, with Mat Sadler’s side currently sitting top of the pile once more in League Two.
Despite this, October proved to be a rocky month for Walsall, and as such a new month bore new opportunities to get back on track starting with a “banana skin” FA Cup 1st round clash.
However, they were coming up against a team with FA Cup pedigree of their own in Eastleigh, with the Spitfires causing a major upset in the second round of this competition in 2023, seeing off League One Reading at the Silverlake.
Just three changes were made from the Saddlers’ League Two defeat at Cheltenham Town, with Vincent Harper brought in for a stint against his former side. Charlie Lakin and Brandon Comley were also drafted into the midfield.
It was the ideal start for a Walsall side that had drawn a blank in their last two games, with Evan Weir bundling home from a corner in the sixth minute after an almighty scramble at the back post. This came just moments after the home side were forced into an early change following an injury to former QPR and Stoke player Jordan Cousins.
Despite the early goal, the Saddlers looked shaky at the back in the first half after a defensive mix-up between Flint and Weir saw Ciaran McGuckin latch on to a lax pass back, forcing Flint to clear away from the goal line. Harvey Saunders then followed it up with a low driven effort that was well saved by Roberts.
The Spitfires continued to threaten, with Lloyd Humphries rising highest to head onto the bar from a set piece.
Over 20 minutes since the opening goal, and Walsall had their second chance of the game as Daniel Kanu’s persistence on the left allowed him to squirm a shot deflected past Eweka and narrowly past the far post.
As the first half drew to a close, Walsall came close to a second as Evan Weir fizzed a free kick just wide of the near post from the right-hand side.
It was another early goal that put daylight between the two teams, with Weir turning provider for Daniel Kanu, who fired past Townsend into the top corner from inside the area for his fifth goal in all competitions this season.
After coming under pressure in the first half, Mat Sadler’s side were now in a commanding position against their National League opposition.
Kanu was now brimming with confidence as, in the 59th minute, he nutmegged Eastleigh’s Eweka on the edge of the area before bending just wide of the post from a similar position to that he scored his goal from.
As the second half wore on, the hosts started to show more signs of life, but it was Walsall who continued to create the better chances. In the 69th minute, Charlie Lakin curled another effort just wide of the post from the edge of the area.
Such was Eastleigh’s endeavour to get back into the game that they left themselves open at the back, allowing two Saddlers subs to link up to book Walsall’s place in the second round. Jamie Jellis cleared up towards halfway after an Eastleigh corner, and a miscommunication at the back saw the ball fall kindly to Jamille Matt for him to run through on goal unopposed, before slotting cooly into the bottom corner for his first of the season.
That goal capped off what was a dialled-in performance from Walsall, grabbing an early goal to tame the crowd, riding out a spell of Eastleigh pressure before scoring two second-half goals to kill the tie.
Despite recent setbacks, this team are continuing to fight on all fronts, with this being the third game in as many competitions in the last eight days. The message from the group is clear – that they want to do well in all competitions and the FA Cup is no exception. The Saddlers are now just one game away from a potential tie against the titans of English Football in the third round.
Now the task is to carry some of that momentum into the bread and butter of League Two to bounce back from recent defeats, starting with Saturday’s trip to Newport.
