Walsall v Sheffield United match report by Sophie Dale, St. Thomas More School...
SOPHIE Dale from St. Thomas More School was in the Press Box for our game against Sheffield United on New Year's Day. Here is her report on the 2-1 victory for The Saddlers...‘Patience is the key’ says Man of the match James Chambers whilst being interviewed after Walsall defeated Sheffield United 2-1 at home.
Winning goalscorer James Chambers secured the win for Walsall in the 60th minute, scoring his first league goal at the age of 33.
The constant wind and rain didn’t stop loyal fans arriving to see their teams play in the first match of the year. The attendance at Banks's Stadium was 5,015.
The first half saw Sheffield United take the lead 16 minutes into the game, as Chris Porter neatly chipped the ball into the top corner of the net. Having had a few chances Sheffield United finally made one of them count even though the game had only just begun.
The first half of the match the visitors were seen as the stronger side making short quick passes, however Walsall didn’t give up and gave all their effort to try and equalise. Walsall too had a few chances to score and nearly did in the 30th minute by Romaine Sawyers, but the end of the first half saw Sheffield United winning 1-0.
The penalty awarded in the second half caused great debate between the fans and managers of both teams after Harry Maguire had pushed Andy Butler. This was the point where Walsall were finally drawing level as Craig Westcarr stepped up to the mark to take the penalty. He successfully put the ball into the bottom right of the net convincing Keeper George Long to dive in the opposite direction.
The atmosphere in the stadium lifted as both teams were now equal.
It didn’t take long for Walsall to take the lead as James Chambers fired the ball through the legs of Long after being set up by Sam Mantom an hour into the game.
67 minutes into the match Nigel Clough decided to take Stephen McGinn and Jose Baxter off and replace them with Jamie Murphy and Shaun Miller.
With 10 minutes of the match left Romaine Sawyer crossed the ball over to Craig Westcarr who had another close chance of scoring.
Seven minutes from the end and Milan Lalkovic received a standing ovation by some of the fans after being replaced by Ashley Hemmings.
The victory was in sight for Walsall as they kept in control of the game for the last six minutes and then five minutes added time.
The final score at Banks's Stadium saw Walsall win 2-1 against Sheffield United.
After the Match Dean Smith said that the win was really pleasing. The Walsall players will now have a rest this weekend before their next match against Tranmere as they have had four games in the last 11 days.
SOPHIE DALE