23rd January 2016 - Walsall 1-1 Blackpool
A chance to go top of the table and a clash with relegation threatened Blackpool, at risk of being dumped from the third tier. What could go wrong for Walsall?
It was, by cliché, a game of two halves. Neil Etheridge had his work cut out as the Tangerines threw everything forward, forecasted back-to-back relegations. Jack Redshaw hadn’t read the script, forcing the shot-stopper into a save early on.
Brad Potts then sliced the Saddlers’ back-line open but his well-placed strike lacked the conviction to beat Etheridge.
Top scorer Tom Bradshaw thought he had netted his 14th of the season courtesy of Anthony Forde but was thwarted by Colin Doyle in the Blackpool goal as the striker’s textbook header fizzed wide.
In the end, an unlikely provider for the opener came in the form of full-back Andy Taylor. The Saddlers’ number three surged forward from his flank to see his low cross trickle through a body of black shirts and fall into the path of Jason Demetriou. The Cypriot international bundled the ball home and the hosts were on course to leapfrog Burton Albion.
Doyle was equal to efforts from Romaine Sawyers and Sam Mantom as the Saddlers looked to cushion their lead but it was a 94th-minute set-piece that would be their undoing.
Uche Ikpeazu’s free-kick didn’t get past the wall but it did find its way to the feet of Danny Philliskirk who blasted the ball home in the dying moments to give the Tangerines fresh hope of living to play another day in League One while Walsall’s promotion hopes took a hit.
Walsall XI: Neil Etheridge, Paul Downing, James O’Connor, Andy Taylor, Jason Demetriou, Sam Mantom, Adam Chambers, Anthony Forde, Rico Henry, Romaine Sawyers, Tom Bradshaw
Subs: Craig MacGillivray, Milan Lalkovic, Matt Preston, Reece Flanagan, Kieron Morris, Jordan Cook, Liam Kinsella