Fleetwood Town 1-1 Walsall - Match Report

The Flying Scotsman earns the Saddlers a point against the Fishermen

Aaron Pressley’s late equaliser gave Walsall a second successive draw with a late goal away from home.

The encounter would mark the eighteenth time the sides have met in competitions, with Fleetwood winning the most recent encounter 1-0 thanks to a Mark Helm goal at the Bescot Stadium.

The Saddlers took to the field in their navy strip for the second time this season, while Fleetwood wore their traditional red and white. Walsall attacked the Percy Ronson stand as the game began.

The first chance of the game fell to the hosts. Harrison Neal received the ball just outside of the penalty area, curling a ball towards the back post to Coughlan. The striker evaded his marker, but his headed effort was saved tremendously by Jed Ward, who palmed it over the bar.

Soon after, Walsall had an opportunity of their own. Sven Sprangler adjusted his body neatly before playing Andrew Dallas into space with room to drive into. The Scotsman advanced towards the goal before playing Lewis Simper out wide. The midfielder drove down the byline but had his cross intercepted by Jay Lynch as he attempted to pick a navy shirt out in the area. 

Fleetwood created the best effort of the evening in the 35th Minute. Mark Helm played the ball in the middle of the pitch before exchanging a neat 1-2 with Ched Evans. This allowed Helm to test Ward with a well-struck attempt from the edge of the penalty area that forced him to deny the effort with a strong save.

The final chance of the half saw the hosts come close once again. Helm received the ball out on the Left-hand side before delivering the ball into the area for defender Rhys Bennett, who glanced his header narrowly over the bar.

HT Fleetwood Town FC 0-0 Walsall FC

The Fishermen started the second half perfectly, after a counterattack that showed promise from the Saddlers was shut down by Lewis McCann. He then picked out Ronan Coughlan, who evaded Connolly’s pressure before bearing down on goal and confidently curling his effort past Jed Ward to give Fleetwood the lead and register the Irishman’s fourth goal in all competitions.

It nearly went from bad to worse for Walsall, after Sprangler was dispossessed in the middle of the park, having been swarmed by red shirts. Evans regained possession before playing in Coughlan, whose effort proved comfortable for Ward to deal with as he collected the ball with ease.

In the 66th Minute, it looked as though Walsall had found a certain equaliser after Lewis Simper’s free-kick found Connolly in the penalty area. Connolly looked set to redeem himself following his mistake, but his effort went agonisingly wide of the right post.

McCann nearly doubled the advantage after intercepting a loose ball. The winger bore down on goal before firing an awkward strike towards goal, but Ward produced another solid save, getting down low to his right to keep the effort out.

In the 82nd minute, the Saddlers drew level through Aaron Pressley. Recce Smith skipped through a sea of red and white shirts before slipping Andrew Dallas out wide. Dallas delivered an audacious cross towards fellow Scotsman, Pressley, who guided an unstoppable effort into the top-right corner to register his fifth goal of the season.

In the closing stages, Walsall looked likely to snatch a late winner. Their first opportunity fell to Tai Sodje, after Courtney Clarke delivered an early ball towards the edge of the box. However, Sodje failed to get the right connection to sweep home his first goal in Walsall colours. In the dying embers, Dallas took control of the ball before laying it out wide to Smith, who took it wide, attempting to drive an effort into the bottom corner, but his shot went inches wide of the post.

 FT Fleetwood Town FC 1-1 Walsall FC

Match Reflection

The Saddlers claim a well-earned point at Fleetwood after a tightly contested match. The hosts looked the more threatening of the two sides, registering many more attempts on goal, with Coughlan and Helm threatening Jed Ward in the Walsall goal. On a positive note, for the Saddlers, Aaron Pressley was back amongst the goals having not scored in his last three games. The forward is now just one goal short of matching last year’s tally despite having played 31 fewer fixtures, highlighting his importance to the side. Speaking after the game, Isaac Moore suggests the Saddlers ‘need to start taking the game to teams earlier.’ In the last two games, Walsall seem to tend to grow into games in the later stages, having scored in the last 10 minutes of the previous two fixtures. The Saddlers will now turn their attention to cup action at the Bescot against Fulham U21’s before the return of league action that comes in the form of an away trip to Swindon Town FC, who sit 17th in the division.