Saddlers share the spoils at Taunton Town...
THE SADDLERS shared the spoils with Taunton Town on Wednesday evening in a 1-1 draw.
The early action saw Andy Taylor dip a free-kick just over after James Baxendale had been fouled.
As we started to see more of the ball, Romaine Sawyers saw a strike deflected wide, whilst summer signing, Tom Bradshaw was thwarted by the ‘keeper.
A cross from the right by James O’Connor was met with a deft header from Spanish trialist, Javier Inglesias in the next attack but he was off target.
With Craig MacGillivray doing well in goal with some assured handling, The Saddlers looked the more likely side as Baxendale saw his strike take a deflection.
Then, with just four minutes to go until the break, a cross from the Taunton left saw Dean Holden loop a header into his own net as he looked to clear the danger.
There were wholesale changes by Dean Smith at the break as we made a lively start to the second period.
Jordan Cook in particular caused problems as Matt Preston hit the woodwork.
There was another chance for Sawyers who was set up by Cook but the home side had men back to clear the danger.
A sweeping move by Walsall ended with Mal Benning hitting the top of the crossbar as we pushed for a leveller and it finally came with eight minutes to go when Kieron Morris hit a low strike home from distance.
The last action of the evening saw Morris embark upon another mazy run but this time his effort was blocked.
“We played some good stuff,” admitted manager, Dean Smith. “The lads had to handle a couple of different systems, which these type of games are all about.
“I felt we were better after the break; we moved the ball quicker in the second half and tended to take too many touches in the opening period.
“The lads have worked hard over the past few days, but it’s all part of the preparations and it enables us to look at different things.
“It was good to get the new lads in amongst it all tonight and they did well, particularly Jordan Cook who looked bright when he came on.
“We created chances and moved the ball well at times. We now move on to the rest of the tour and look forward to our next game at Torquay on Saturday.”
WALSALL (1st half team): MacGillivray, Taylor, O'Connor, Holden, Bradshaw, Sawyers, Baxendale, Chambers, Flanagan, Morris, Iglesias.
WALSALL (2nd half team): MacGillivray, O'Connor, Downing, A. Chambers, Sawyers, Benning, Preston, Heath, Bakayoko, Cook, Kinsella.