Too many draws....
THE MONTH of April started in impressive fashion as we played host to local rivals, Coventry City on the first day of the month.In front of a large and vocal crowd, we were in command for the large part and took a deserved lead just past the half-hour through Coventry-born, Jamie Paterson.
Our lead was doubled early in the second period as Craig Westcarr converted from the spot in the absence of the injured Will Grigg. Westcarr then notched his second and Walsall's third of the afternoon before Paterson sealed a convincing win right at the death.
It meant that we marched into our next game, at home to Sheffield United, in confident mood.
It was an extra special occasion as the club celebrated it's 125th Birthday in style with various activities going on ahead of kick-off. The match itself didn't quite reach the standards of the previous game, but we were the better side for long periods and missed a number of opportunities.
We opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time through Craig Westcarr but The Blades were able to grab a point through Chris Porter just past the hour-mark.
A trip to relegation-threatened Scunthorpe United followed and after a sluggish opening period, we got into our stride after the break and took the lead as Will Grigg became the first Saddlers' player in 12 years to reach the 20-goal mark.
Whilst we weren't at our best, it looked as though we had done enough to take all three points until a late leveller halted us in our tracks.
Our penultimate game of the season saw already-relegated Bury provide our final home League opposition.
It was a game that lacked any real spark, although Febian Brandy gave us a first half lead with a well-taken goal.
But with results elsewhere going against us and our quest for the play-offs all but over, our visitors were able to snatch a last-gasp equaliser and thus make it three 1-1 draws in a row for us.
To take our fight for a play-off position right down to the 45th game was a real achievement for all involved. We had also stretched our unbeaten run to 15 games in the process, but that was to come to an end on the final day of the season as we went down to a 2-0 defeat at Crewe Alexandra.
Backed by almost 2,000 travelling supporters, many of whom were in the traditional fancy dress, we were hit by a controversial penalty during the second half before our hosts added a late second goal.
It was disappointing that a season containing such positives should end on a losing note, but we went into the summer in very good heart and with the nucleus of the team already signed up for next year...