On a cold and damp April afternoon, Walsall faced Northampton in a critical match that both sides just couldn’t lose. This relegation 6 pointer was watched by a bumper crowd of 8919, including 1993 away fans. Game on……
The action started fast and Northampton looked up for it. Roberts pushed a shot on to the post and caught the rebound and his namesake Kory, also had to clear a shot off his own line. The rest of the half was back and forth and it ended with Morris pulling a good chance wide.
The second half started with a nice gesture as Northampton’s goalie, O’Donnell, got a round of applause from the home end on his return to the Banks’s.
Northampton was on the front foot as the half progressed. They wasted a few good chances and even had a goal disallowed.
The home fans were getting anxious and Walsall responded with a rasping drive from Devlin. Into the last 10 minutes and the game was up for grabs.
Unbelievably, Walsall then survived a Northampton cross/shot that hit the post, the goalie and the bar! Right at the end, the home side had a great chance but Devlin somehow nodded wide. A draw looked the most likely outcome……
GOAL! With time up, Bakayoko broke free and crossed low into the box for SUPER GEORGIE DOBSON to slot the ball home. Cue scenes of complete madness as delirious fans piled on to the pitch. I couldn’t see much more as my dad dived on top of me at this point.
Walsall held on for the win and afterwards the boss was relieved and extremely happy. He praised Dobson’s calm finish but warned that we still needed a point from our last two games.
Say, we are staying up….UTS!!