Friday evening saw attention to cup action and a televised visit to Holm Park in Kent where Walsall were to take on Sheppey United in the First Round (proper) of the world's oldest domestic cup competition, the Emirates FA Cup.
Walsall started the game slowly but created the vast majority of the goal-scoring opportunities, that was until they reached the midway point of the first-half as James Bessey-Saldanha put the home side ahead.
The Saddlers went on to level the scores around fifteen minutes before the break as Douglas James-Taylor, who had been thwarted on a few previous occasions, slipped the ball home following a defensive error.
Despite allowing the home side a handful of openings, the Saddlers went on to take the lead early in the second-half as Tom Knowles slammed the ball into the back of the net from outside the area.
Walsall's third goal arrived after around sixty-three minutes as on-loan Motherwell man Ross Tierney capped off an attacking drive with a well-taken finish.
The Saddlers' fourth of the game arrived with three minutes of the game remaining as Isaac Hutchinson stole the ball from the grasp of the goalkeeper before prodding it into the back of the net.
EMIRATES FA CUP - FIRST ROUND
| SHEPPEY | 1-4 | WALSALL |
| BESSEY-SALDANHA (21') |
GOALSCORERS |
JAMES-TAYLOR (32') KNOWLES (53') TIERNEY (63') HUTCHINSON (87') |
| LAMBERT (21') |
ASSISTS |
HUTCHINSON (53') DANIELS (63') |
| 35 | POSS (%) | 65 |
| 3 | SHOTS (TOTAL) | 36 |
| 1 | SHOTS (ON TARGET) | 17 |
| 2 | CORNERS | 10 |
| 4 | FOULS | 8 |
| 0 | YELLOW CARDS | 0 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
| AT | HOLM PARK |
| ATTENDANCE | 1,450 (170 WALSALL) |
| REFEREE | TOM REEVES |
SHEPPEY UNITED
Prall; Morgan, Majoyegbe, Hamill, Leonard (Morris, 67'), Wilkins (Birch, 83'), Bessey-Saldanha, Lambert (Durowoju (83'), Diallo, Wisson, (Spencer, 67') Bradshaw (Willis, 44')
Unused: Birch, Graham, Housego, Glock, Marsh
WALSALL
Evans; Riley, Okagbue (Comley, 77'), Daniels, Gordon; McEntee (Menayese, 90+1, Stirk; Knowles (Thomas, 90+1), Tierney, Hutchinson; James-Taylor (Johnson, 90+1')
Unused: Smith, Foulkes, Allen, Griffiths, Matt