Walsall suffer late defeat against Gills...
Saddlers boss Jon Whitney bemoaned his side’s profligacy in front of goal after the dramatic 2-1 home defeat to Gillingham.Cody McDonald’s second-minute header gave the Gills a dream start, but Jason McCarthy equalised just nine minutes later with a low finish.
Walsall dominated the second half but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’ deflected 84th-minute free-kick earned Justin Edinburgh’s side all three points.
“We’ve played worse this season and come away with a point or a win,” said a disappointed Whitney, whose team are now 17th in League One.
“We’ve been punished again for a little bit of a lack of a discipline and when there’s a free-kick in that central area, you’re hoping you don’t get punished.
“Again, if you don’t take chances, and don’t get that second goal, it leaves you open to it.
“I thought we responded really well to the early goal and got to grips with it more in the second-half.
“They were about trying to stop us gaining any momentum in the first-half and it was a dead-ball game.
“In the second-half we coped with their threat and played some really good football.
“We got into the final third and created some good chances, but we didn’t take them and we got punished with the one shot they had on target in the second half.”