Walsall were back in action on Saturday afternoon as they made the trip to Gresty Road and took on Crewe Alexandra in their forty-second outing of the 2022/23 League Two campaign.
Looking to make it mathematically impossible for them to drop to the National League, the Saddlers went in search of just their third league win of 2023.
Crewe started the game on the front foot and were able to get the first goal of the game with just two-minutes on the clock as Rod McDonald headed home from a well-placed free-kick.
The home side went on to score their second of the game with twenty-five minutes played as Chris long sent a deflected effort past Owen Evans and into the back of the net.
Joss Labadie, who recently returned from a lengthy injury absence, picked up two yellow cards leaving his teammates to play with ten men for much of the second forty-five.
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
| CREWE ALEXANDRA | 2-0 | WALSALL |
| McDONALD (2') LONG (25') |
GOALSCORERS |
|
| AINLEY (2') | ASSISTS | |
| 48 | POSS (%) | 52 |
| 12 | SHOTS (TOTAL) | 9 |
| 4 | SHOTS (ON TARGET) | 0 |
| 7 | CORNERS | 3 |
| 13 | FOULS | 17 |
| 2 | YELLOW CARDS | 4 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 2 |
| AT | THE MORNFLAKE STADIUM |
| ATTENDANCE | 4,857 (1,010 WALSALL) |
| REFEREE | CARL BOYESON (EAST YORKSHIRE) |
CREWE ALEXANDRA
Richards; Mellor 🟨 (Robertson, 72'), McDonald 🟨, Offord, Long (Brook, 50'), Thomas, Ainley (Uwakwe, 54'), Agyei, Nevitt (Baker-Richardson, 72'), Finney (Colkett, 73'), Tabiner
Unused: Booth; Amoo
WALSALL
Evans; McEntee 🟨, Low (Riley, 28'), Monthé, Knowles 🟨, Kinsella (Labadie, 28' 🟨🟨🟥), Comley, Gordon, Hutchinson, Matt (Maher, 88'), Wilkinson (Maddox, 65')
Unused: Smith; Williams, Stevens
🟥 Wayne Hatswell