WALSALL v SCUNTHORPE UNITED
THE SADDLERS stepped out at a decidedly windy Banks's Stadium as we looked to get back into winning way on home soil against a Scunthorpe United side under the guidance of former Walsall front-men, Mark Robins and David Kelly.It was a bright start by Walsall with Anthony Forde going close on a couple of occasions in the opening five minutes.
Another neat passing move ended with Jordan Cook's strike testing the 'keeper as it bounced up awkwardly in front of him.
An effort from James O'Connor flew over as The Saddlers continued to press.
With 24 minutes on the clock and totally out of the blue and against the run of play, it was Scunthorpe who grabbed the lead as the ball went in off James Chambers.
There was a yellow card for Andy Taylor for a foul out wide on the half-hour mark.
The goal certainly brought The Iron to life and they caused a number of problems for our back-line.
Skipper, Adam Chambers, was booked for a late challenge following a loose pass from Anthony Forde.
The Iron were able to double their advantage as Tom Hopper guided the ball home from in front of goal.
In stoppage time at the end of the first half, Romaine Sawyers made room for a strike that flashed just wide of the target from distance.
That was to be the last of the action in the opening period as we went in at the break two goals behind.
The first action of the second period saw Forde cross for Michael Cain but the ball wouldn't sit for him and he screwed his effort well wide of the mark.
With 51 minutes on the clock, Walsall pulled a goal back as Bradshaw linked up with Cain who applied a neat finish to reduce the arrears.
As Andy Taylor and then Adam Chambers went close, there was a scare at the other end when the referee awarded a penalty only for the offside flag to have been long raised to rule it out.
There was a penalty for The Iron just past the hour as Paddy Madden stepped up to fire home and make it 3-1. There was another goal for The Iron soon to follow as Neal Bishop found the net.
A double change on 72 minutes saw Ashley Grimes and Reece Flanagan on for Anthony Forde and Jordan Cook respectively.
The final Walsall change saw Mathieu Manset replace Romaine Sawyers with just over ten minutes to go.
The remainder of the game petered out as we fell to a 4-1 defeat.