A decent crowd of 4812 turned up at the Banks’s Stadium to see the Saddlers go up against the Mariners in this early season League Two encounter writes Scotia Smith.
The game started slowly but suddenly burst into life…..
GOAL! A good break and cross by Rory Holden in the fourth minute was turned in at close range by Caolan Lavery…...1-0.
The visitors almost replied immediately but Roberts denied them with a fantastic fingertip save from a header. In fact, Grimsby looked very dangerous when the ball was in the air.
Slightly against the run of play, Walsall almost made it 2 nil. The impressive Holden skipped past his full-back and curled a rasping shot just over the bar.
The home side would come to regret that miss….
GOAL! In the 41st minute, another high ball into the box was nodded in this time, to bring the teams in level at half-time…….1-1.
Walsall made an early change up front in the second half, bringing on Josh Gordon for Lavery. Shortly after, both Elijah Adebayo and Dan Scarr had chances to restore our lead.
However, as the half wore on, Grimsby started to apply a bit of pressure…..
GOAL! In the 67th minute, yet another cross into the Saddlers’ box was met by a Grimsby head…1-2.
The impressive Holden tried to tie it up but his free kick from the edge of the box just flashed over.
Walsall brought on Wes McDonald and Danny Guthrie for James Hardy and Mat Sadler as the home side pressed for an equaliser but…
GOAL! On 80 minutes, Grimsby went further ahead with a penalty given after one of their players went down in the box…..1-3.
Walsall kept trying but to no avail and they slumped to their first home league defeat of the season.
In the press conference afterwards, manager Darrell Clarke said the players have to stay strong and things will turn round and insisted that he’s still enjoying the job.