Walsall 3, Hartlepool 1: Chris Lepkowski's big match verdict
Apr 26 2010 By Chris Lepkowski
THERE were yellow T-shirts, bright sunshine and an air of end-of-season to Walsall’s game against Hartlepool.
But it didn’t transmit to the Saddlers players, who produced one of the best performances of the season, thanks to goals from Julian Gray, Troy Deeney and Richard Taundry.
Walsall were too good.
Off-the-field, the yellow-shirted supporters, of which there was a decent minority, chanted against chairman Jeff Bonser over his ownership of the land that the Banks’s Stadium is built on.
But it was always going to be a struggle this season against the might of Norwich, Leeds, Charlton, Huddersfield and Southampton.
Ironically, Walsall’s better performances have come against some of the big-hitters – but a sense of realism is needed. How can you compete against clubs who sell out to the tune of 25,000 fans every home game, as Norwich do?
The best Walsall – watched by 3,457 punters – can do is hope that two of the big-hitters join Norwich in the Championship next year to bring a bit more parity to the division.
On the pitch, Chris Hutchings watched his side tear up a Hartlepool team who brought good footballing principles to the Banks’s but couldn’t quite cope with the home side’s quality.
Steve Jones provided the opener when he dashed down the right wing in the sixth minute and passed over to the far post where Gray was lurking. His first effort was blocked on the line but the clearance hit Gray and rolled back over it.
Roy O’Donovan equalised when he found himself on the wrong side of the Saddlers defence but on the right side of somebody, somewhere playing him onside. Hutchings promised an inquiry to find the ‘offside’ culprit. The Hartlepool man slotted his shot underneath Rene Gilmartin.
But that was as good as it got for the visitors. Though they were to enjoy sporadic chances before the final whistle, Walsall resumed control quickly after conceding.
Deeney used his strength and power to out-wrestle two defenders before driving a low shot past Scott Flinders. And Taundry made sure of the win during the second half thanks to a brilliantly-worked four-man move, which he started and finished, after an exchange of passes with Deeney and Gray.
Hutchings was pleased with the result but is already planning for next season.
“We’ll have some discussions and see what happens,” he said. “We will put names down, those we want to keep and then maybe see what we need from there.
“The win was comfortable. We had a lot of chances but I’m sure the fans will be pleased with it. It’s probably as well as we’ve done this season.”
WALSALL (4-4-2): Gilmartin 6, Weston 7, Smith 6, Jones 6 (Till, 77), McDonald 6, Richards 7, ★ TAUNDRY 8, Vincent 6, Gray 8, Nicholls 7, Deeney 8. Not used: Ince, Sansara, Parkin, Bradley, O’Keefe, Grigg.
HARTLEPOOL (4-4-2): Flinders, Austin, Humphreys (Sweeney, 78), Liddle, Collins, McSweeney, Monkhouse, Brown (Boyd, 81), Hartley, Gamble (Jones, 80), O’Donovan. Subs: Clark, Haslam, Cook, Bjornsson.
Referee: F Graham (Essex).
