THE SADDLERS had to battle hard for their place in the third round of the FA Cup as Michael Ricketts' late penalty gave us a 1-0 win over a dogged Northampton Town.
On a freezing night at the Banks's Stadium, it took Walsall a while to warm up as the visitors carved out a couple of minor scares that were dealt with by The Saddlers' back-line.
With half-an-hour on the clock, The Saddlers were looking to make an impact as Daniel Fox did well out wide on the left to find Michael Ricketts whose ball in search of strike partner, Tommy Mooney was cleared.
A sloppy ball in the middle of the park by Edrissa Sonko was picked up by Andy Holt who made progress before finding the giant frame of Poul Hubertz who managed to get in a strike that was well blocked by Anthony Gerrard.
The Saddlers were not being allowed to settle by a determined Northampton side who were working hard.
An inviting corner on the stroke of half-time was headed goalwards by Hubertz as Rhys Weston cleared off the line.
Straight away at the other end, Walsall brought a smart save out of Mark Bunn as the resulting corner came to nothing.
There was a change at half-time as Ishmel Demontagnac replaced Sonko and his arrival into the fray injected a bit more urgency into our play as he gave Northampton something new to think about.
With Troy Deeney on in place of Paul Hall, Ryan Gilligan tried his luck from distance for The Cobblers but he was well off target.
There was a further change with Saturday's game against Leeds United in mind as Alex Nicholls replaced Mooney.
Ince produced a good save to deny Holt who got his head onto a high cross into the box, then Danny Jones delivered a free-kick into the danger zone which was well defended by Dann.
As extra-time looked increasingly likely, Demontagnac went on another pacy run and as he cut inside the penalty area, Danny Jackman brought him crashing to the ground.
The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot as Ricketts stepped up to calmly slot home.
Shortly afterwards, Deeney tried his luck with a shot from outside the area that Bunn pushed out whilst a couple of Northampton corners caused concern as The Saddlers got men back to clear.
There was a let-off in injury time as Mark Hughes found himself in space but put his header onto the roof of the net.
It wasn't long before the final whistle sounded to signal Walsall's progession into the third round and a home tie with Millwall on Saturday, January 5th.
PHOTOS: David Linney Photography
