EFL Trophy: Walsall 0 Forest Green 2 - Report
Walsall's hot streak was brought to an end as they rounded off the EFL Trophy group stage with a 2-0 loss to Forest Green Rovers.
This was a first defeat in nine for Matt Taylor's men, and they can have no complaints about the result.
The Saddlers put in a better second-half display at the Banks's Stadium while Otis Khan caught the eye in his first appearance for the club.
Forest Green, though, proved difficult to break down and prevailed through fine finishes from Mathew Stevens and substitute Jake Young.
There was nothing to be too worried about in this loss.
Walsall did struggle to get into rhythm, but there was always the risk of that happening given they had made seven changes.
Sometimes, too, you have to acknowledge the work of the opponent – Forest Green are a classy outfit.
The Saddlers were already through to the knockouts and are now joined by Rob Edwards' well-oiled machine.
Up next for Taylor is the visit of Harrogate Town and a chance to keep up momentum in the league.
Report
Given they were already through, it was no surprise to see Taylor take the opportunity to rotate his Walsall squad.
Khan – brought in as a free agent last month – was among seven players to come into the Saddlers line-up.
Jack Rose, Tom Leak, Ash Taylor, Alfie Bates, Sam Perry and Kieran Phillips were the others eager to impress.
With both teams much-changed, there was the potential for a tentative start to proceedings and, in fairness, the first 10 minutes were pretty uneventful.
Debutant Khan's corner was met by Taylor and headed into the arms of Luke McGee, but Walsall, on the whole, were struggling to keep hold of the ball for a prolonged spell.
Forest Green were not being pressed with that much intent either.
The visitors, allowed to spray it about freely, grew in confidence and duly went ahead after a quarter of an hour.
A decent move saw the ball reach top scorer Stevens, who coolly swept it beyond Rose from the edge of the box.
The Saddlers continued to look disjointed. Midfielders Joss Labadie and Bates were not imposing themselves as they would have liked, while centre-half Taylor did not look the most assured.
His attempted pass towards Stephen Ward was intercepted, and Forest Green were not that far away from adding a second – Sadou Diallo blazing over.
Walsall's main positive in the first half was the performance of Khan.
While not taking on Baily Cargill every time, he kept coming up with quality deliveries from dead-ball situations.
Another corner found Taylor, who this time around saw his unchallenged header blocked by Diallo, before a free-kick from the right caused a fair amount of panic among the away defence.
The Saddlers also had Rose to thank for keeping it at 1-0 going into the break. Stevens had ghosted in behind far too easily and saw his half-volley sharply saved by the stand-in shot-stopper.
Boss Taylor would not have been enthused by what he saw in the opening 45 minutes. It was just all very flat.
Still, he stuck to his guns for the beginning of the second period.
Walsall gradually started to improve, with Rollin Menayese and Bates both particularly keen to get stuck in. In possession, too, they showed lots more urgency.
Keen to ramp up the pressure on Forest Green further, two attack-minded substitutions were made. Emmanuel Osadebe and Tyrese Shade entered the fray and things were certainly more encouraging.
Clear-cut chances, though, still remained elusive and before long, Taylor turned to leading light George Miller.
He replaced Ward as Leak moved over to left-back, while Khan dropped to right-back in the Saddlers' last attempt to keep their unbeaten run alive.
Forest Green, credit to them, were set up well all evening. Former Wolves man Edwards' lot are top of League Two for a reason and everybody knew their jobs inside out.
The opportunity the Saddlers were looking for did arrive, though. They just were not able to take it.
Yet another superb delivery from Khan found Taylor at the far post.
His knock-down fell to the right man, too, in Miller, but the striker uncharacteristically fluffed his lines and volleyed over from close range.
A frustrating evening for Walsall was then compounded by Young's superb strike, putting the result beyond any doubt.
Khan the Saddlers' star man and a better second half, definitely, but the visitors worth the win.
Teams
Walsall (4-3-3): Rose; Leak, Menayese, Taylor, Ward (Miller, 69); Labadie, Perry (Osadebe, 55), Bates; Khan, Phillips, Kiernan (Shade, 61)
Subs not used: Rushworth (gk), Sadler, Monthe, Earing
Forest Green (4-3-3): McGee; Edwards, Bernard (c), Bunker (Godwin-Malife, 72), Cargill; Hendry, Diallo, Evans; Stevens (Young, 57), Aitchison (Cadden, 79), Allen
Subs not used: Thomas (gk), Wilson, Stevenson, Moore-Taylor
Goals: Stevens (15), Jake Young (88)
Attendance: 1,778
Referee: Tom Reeves
