Walsall suffered injury time heartache as they fell to a narrow defeat against Morecambe on the opening day of the 2023/24 season.
Adam Mayor opened the scoring before Danny Johnson levelled in the first half.
The game looked to be heading for a draw but Farrend Rawson won it for the hosts in injury time.
Mat Sadler made two changes to the team that started last weekend’s final pre-season outing against Solihull Moors.
Johnson and Harry Williams both came in to the XI while Jamille Matt dropped to the bench. Priestley Farquharson was missing from the match day squad.
Morecambe applied pressure in the early exchanges but the Saddlers dealt with it well. The visitors’ first attempt came on 12 minutes when Chris Hussey’s cross was met by Aramide Oteh who got his head to it but couldn’t direct the ball on target.
Owen Evans was the first of the two goalkeepers to be tested when Tom Bloxham had a go with a shot that swerved as it headed goalwards but Evans did well to push the ball away.
The Shrimps opened the scoring on 25 minutes after an incisive move saw the ball threaded through to Mayor who arrowed the ball into the back of the net.
Walsall slowly grew back into the game and started to enjoy more of the possession but couldn’t sustain any pressure.
However, on 38 minutes opportunity arose when Ryan Stirk lifted the ball forward and Johnson found himself one-on-one with Simon Moore and he made no mistake as he slotted the ball home and it ensured the Saddlers would go into the half time interval on level terms.
Walsall started the second half strongly as Isaac Hutchinson had a shot blocked before Liam Gordon fired over the bar.
Sadler made his first substitution on 67 minutes as he introduced Douglas James-Taylor in place of Oteh. He was involved straight away as he met Joe Riley’s cross but he flicked the ball over with his head.
The Saddlers came agonisingly close to taking the lead on 77 minutes when Williams slid the ball down the channel and with the help of a slight deflection, it found Johnson who tried to slot the ball into the far corner but his attempt bounced off the post and Morecambe then averted the danger.
It looked like the game was heading for a draw but Morecambe snatched the points when a free-kick came in and after a scramble the ball hit the crossbar and then eventually fell to Rawson who prodded home and the hosts came out on top.
Evans; Riley, Williams, Daniels, Hussey, Gordon; McEntee, Stirk (Matt 90+), Hutchinson; Oteh (James-Taylor 67’), Johnson
Subs: Smith (GK), Foulkes, Comley, Allen, Tierney
Attendance: 4,609 (1327 away)