Following Saturday's opening day defeat to Doncaster Rovers, Bescot Banter columnist Rob Jones shares his Match Report;
Having started the season promisingly last week, we went into the first league match looking to build some momentum with a view to avoiding another season of struggle. Frankly, it just wasn't to be.
The side was unchanged from last week, with the exception of the left back position, which saw James Chambers come in to make his debut against his former club.
As per last week, we started brightly and moved the ball around well, with Rovers' Rob Jones' lunge on Cuvelier forcing the ref to brand a yellow card after just 5 minutes. Two minutes later however, we had the wind knocked out of our sails as a routine low cross from Doncaster's left was spilled by Grof, leaving Chris Brown to tap home the opener.
We stuck to our task after falling behind, with Hemmings' pace and enthusiasm looking dangerous and Featherstone picking passes well in midfield. Our possession was certainly impressive, but a lack of real presence and potency up front meant we struggled to create genuine chances. That said, a superb Hemmings volley from a cleared corner was well-blocked as it looked destined for the back of the net.
26 minutes in and lady luck came back with a vengeance. Under no pressure, David Cotterill took aim from the halfway line and lobbed Grof perfectly with an early goal of the season contender. We'd undoubtedly had the better of the possession, but having not really threatened in the final third, found ourselves two goals down against a Doncaster side which had barely broken sweat.
The rest of the half passed without much incident. A 2-0 reverse at half time was certainly a case of bad luck rather than a poor performance.
There's no need for a lengthy report on the second half as for all intents and purposes, it might as well have been a training match. Rovers' Kyle Bennett showed a good turn of pace to cut in from the left and curl a good effort beyond Grof to extend the lead to 3-0 and put the game out of sight. At that point, Dean Smith replaced Paterson & Hemmings with Brandy & Baxendale as we went to a 4-4-2 in an attempt to work the Rovers' back four, but we still lacked a real presence.
To sum our afternoon up, a direct run through the middle by Brandy drew a cheap foul from the Doncaster defender, which put an end to Brandy's afternoon. A hamstring injury forced him off (probably for the next month or so) with Bowerman taking his place to see out the final 25 minutes.
RESULT: Walsall 0 Doncaster Rovers 3 (Brown 5' Cotterill 26' Bennett 55')
ATT: 4,205
REF: M, Heywood
All in all, we were beaten by an efficient Doncaster side capable of flashes of quality when it was needed. Credit has to be given to Dean Smith for forming a young side where every player looks to keep the ball, but with Will Grigg not really able to make an impression in the final third, goalscoring chances look to be few and far between. Doncaster looked likely candidates for a top six finish at this early stage and whilst our performance was by no means hopeless, there's plenty of work to be done with our front line if we're to avoid a third consecutive season of struggle. A striker with the ability to hold the ball up and play with his back to goal could be all we need to turn the tide in our favour.
By: Rob Jones
Having started the season promisingly last week, we went into the first league match looking to build some momentum with a view to avoiding another season of struggle. Frankly, it just wasn't to be.
The side was unchanged from last week, with the exception of the left back position, which saw James Chambers come in to make his debut against his former club.
As per last week, we started brightly and moved the ball around well, with Rovers' Rob Jones' lunge on Cuvelier forcing the ref to brand a yellow card after just 5 minutes. Two minutes later however, we had the wind knocked out of our sails as a routine low cross from Doncaster's left was spilled by Grof, leaving Chris Brown to tap home the opener.
We stuck to our task after falling behind, with Hemmings' pace and enthusiasm looking dangerous and Featherstone picking passes well in midfield. Our possession was certainly impressive, but a lack of real presence and potency up front meant we struggled to create genuine chances. That said, a superb Hemmings volley from a cleared corner was well-blocked as it looked destined for the back of the net.
26 minutes in and lady luck came back with a vengeance. Under no pressure, David Cotterill took aim from the halfway line and lobbed Grof perfectly with an early goal of the season contender. We'd undoubtedly had the better of the possession, but having not really threatened in the final third, found ourselves two goals down against a Doncaster side which had barely broken sweat.
The rest of the half passed without much incident. A 2-0 reverse at half time was certainly a case of bad luck rather than a poor performance.
There's no need for a lengthy report on the second half as for all intents and purposes, it might as well have been a training match. Rovers' Kyle Bennett showed a good turn of pace to cut in from the left and curl a good effort beyond Grof to extend the lead to 3-0 and put the game out of sight. At that point, Dean Smith replaced Paterson & Hemmings with Brandy & Baxendale as we went to a 4-4-2 in an attempt to work the Rovers' back four, but we still lacked a real presence.
To sum our afternoon up, a direct run through the middle by Brandy drew a cheap foul from the Doncaster defender, which put an end to Brandy's afternoon. A hamstring injury forced him off (probably for the next month or so) with Bowerman taking his place to see out the final 25 minutes.
RESULT: Walsall 0 Doncaster Rovers 3 (Brown 5' Cotterill 26' Bennett 55')
ATT: 4,205
REF: M, Heywood
All in all, we were beaten by an efficient Doncaster side capable of flashes of quality when it was needed. Credit has to be given to Dean Smith for forming a young side where every player looks to keep the ball, but with Will Grigg not really able to make an impression in the final third, goalscoring chances look to be few and far between. Doncaster looked likely candidates for a top six finish at this early stage and whilst our performance was by no means hopeless, there's plenty of work to be done with our front line if we're to avoid a third consecutive season of struggle. A striker with the ability to hold the ball up and play with his back to goal could be all we need to turn the tide in our favour.
By: Rob Jones