Walsall 4 Fleetwood 2 - Report and pictures

In front of 3,225 fans at the Banks’s Stadium, Uwe Rosler’s side took the lead when former Saddlers striker Jordy Hiwula tapped home from close range.

But it was Walsall who went into the interval ahead with Erhun Oztumer grabbing a goal and assist for Zeli Ismail to put Jon Whitney’s side into the ascendancy.

Fleetwood pulled level just past the hour when Amari’I Bell emphatically fired in from 20-yards.

But an 89th minute strike from Roberts as well as a stoppage time goal from Agyei won the points for the Saddlers.

In naming his starting line-up, boss Whitney made one change from the team that slipped to a 1-0 loss against Gillingham on Saturday.

With midfielder Joe Edwards ruled out with a minor injury, striker Tyler Roberts was restored to the starting line-up.

It meant the Saddlers switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Ama Bakayoko and Zeli Ismail playing either side of Roberts in a front three.

Fleetwood lined up in 3-5-2 system that saw ex-Walsall striker Jordy Hiwula partner Ashley Hunter in attack.

In what was an intriguing opening 15 minutes, it was the Saddlers who enjoyed the lion’s share of possession with the visitor’s content to sit back and try and hit their opponents on the counter.

And it was from one of those counter-attacks the Cod Army opened the scoring with Uwe Rosler’s side initially seizing possession following a loose pass from Morris.

Within the blink of an eye, Fleetwood moved the ball from left to right with Godswill Ekpolo delivering a low cross into the box.

And that delivery was met by Aiden O’Neill whose strike was parried by Liam Roberts but only into the path of Hiwula who side footed home.

Walsall’s response though was immediate with Whitney’s men going up the other end and pulling level just four minutes later.

After some neat build-up play down the left, Luke Leahy latched onto the ball and sent in a cross which Oztumer fired in from 10-yards for his eight goal of the season.

It was Fleetwood though who continued to look the more dangerous of the two teams and they threatened again when Hiwula's swerving right-footed drive was parried by Liam Roberts.

Then as the clock ticked past the half-hour mark, Hiwula sent Hunter clean through on goal but Roberts did brilliantly to stand tall before denying the striker with his legs.

Fleetwood’s pace on the counter was causing the Saddlers all sorts of problems.

And they again came close to retaking the lead when Kyle Dempsey tricked his way to the byline before delivering a low cross which O'Neill sliced wide just yards from goal.

From that point on though Walsall took charge of the half with Leahy sending in a number of dangerous crosses before the full-back stung the palms of Alex Cairns with a fierce 25-yard drive.

And they took the lead just before the interval following a brilliant free-kick, straight from the training ground.

After Leahy had been fouled on the left, Oztumer and Ismail stood over the resultant set-piece with Ismail darting over the ball and then into the box before being found by his team mate.

And with Fleetwood’s defence caught napping, the Bury loanee had time to take a touch before drilling the ball past Cairns from 12-yards.

The goal meant Walsall had scored two goals in the first half of a match at the Banks’s Stadium for the first time in over year.

With the game having gone a tad flat after the re-start, Rosler opted to switch centre-back Baily Cargill for striker Devante Cole in the 55th minute.

And the change proved an inspired one with the Cod Army pulling level just moments later with a goal remarkably similar to Ismail’s.

This time though it came from a corner, with a pre-planned move seeing O’Neill find Bell who galloped towards goal before unleashing a spectacular strike into the back of the net from 20-yards.

Whitney responded to the goal by switching Ismail for Reece Flangan with the substitution met with anger by the home crowd who loudly chanted for the manager to be moved on.

It was Walsall who threatened next though with Morris hitting a rasping drive from 20-yards that was well tipped over by Cairns.

From that point on though the game proved an even affair with both teams sending dangerous balls into the box to no avail.

But in the 89th minute Walsall did find a winning goal, before then incredibly finding another just seconds after.

First, the Saddlers re-took the lead when Tyler Roberts collected the ball on left before sending in a cross-come-shot that looped up and over Cairns and into the top corner.

Then just moments later the home crowd were celebrating yet again when substitute Dan Agyei played a neat one-two with Roberts in the box before emphatically firing home to earn his team a crucial victory.

Walsall: Roberts, Leahy, Guthrie, Roberts, Kinsella, Morris, Chambers, Oztumer (Agyei 83), Ismail (Flanagan 66), Bakayoko, Roberts (Donbellan 90)

Subs not used: Gillespie, Devlin, Jackson, Kouhyar

Fleetwood: Cairns, Bell, O’Niell, Eastham, Hiwula, Dempsey, Bolger, Ekpolo, Hunter (Burns 63), Schwabl (Glendon 63), Cargill (Cole 55)

Subs not used: Neal, Maguire, Nadesan, Sowerby