Swindon Town FC vs Walsall FC - A game of Two Halves.

The Saddlers battled out another draw against the Robins. With plenty of chances to take all 3 points, how did we get here? - Ben Smith.

Lee Grant will have some questions to answer after Walsall’s 1-1 stalemate with Swindon Town, whereas referee Alex Chilowicz will have an abundance of questions to answer following a string of unexplainable decisions that directly impacted the game at key moments.

Saddlers Squad Selection Struggles Affect First Half.

Much like the Mat Sadler ways of old, Walsall seemed to grow into today’s match, coming to life largely in the second half, whereas the first 45 appeared lackluster and disjointed from a Saddlers perspective. Passes in the final third were poor compared to the second half, with just 46 passes compared to 61 in the second half.

Life in Wiltshire could not have got off to a worse start for Grant’s men, as after only 5 minutes, Aaron Drinan capitalised on a defensive scramble to poke the ball past Ward and give Swindon the lead. Mason Hancock will consider himself liable for this as it was his scuffed clearance that directly led to the goal. The Saddlers did dust themselves off and seemed to dominate from that moment on, with 66% of the ball and 189 accurate passes, a very impressive difference from Swindons 34% of the ball with 76 accurate passes.

As the first half went on, Walsall attempted to show their attacking abilities, with Reece Smith, Aaron Pressley and Tai Sodje all having good chances. Courtney Clarke will consider himself unlucky to have not got his side level before the break, after a great passing move between Pressley, Sodje and Smith left him unmarked with only Ripley in goal to beat, however his touch failed him and the ball was eventually cleared away.

That would prove to be the best chance of the half, with Pressley showing some great link-up play all throughout the game, and Smith running with purpose consistently.

Second Half Saddlers…again!

This seems to be a heavily recurring theme but somehow it never stops being true. Walsall FC are simply a better side in the second half, and the stats back that up too. More xG was achieved in this half, more touches were had in Swindons box (27), and there were more passes in their half, albeit by a small margin.

Player performance seemed to get significantly better to match. Sven Sprangler had one of his best performances in a Saddlers shirt in my opinion, making 9 defensive contributions, the second most of any Walsall player today. Only the captain, James Connolly completed more, with 11.

The near 600 travelling Walsall fans did not have to wait long into the second half for the leveller, as following a corner, Mason Hancock unleashed a shot on Ripley’s goal which was saved well, but the rebound fell sweetly to Tai Sodje, who happily claimed his first league goal for the Reds.

From that point onwards, the majority of the play was with Grant’s men, and they were allowed by Swindon to showcase what they could do in an attacking sense. Reece Smith took full advantage of this, doing absolutely everything he could to try and claim the winner. Smith had the most touches in general (86) , the most in Swindons box (11) and created the most chances (3) respectively. This, plus Aaron Pressley demonstrating some amazing linkup play, was a true example of perseverance however it could not break down the Swindon defence.

Against 11 men…or 12?

The common consensus around the Saddlers backroom staff, fans and players alike will be one thing. Walsall should have been given some decisions that went against them. Tai Sodje fell victim to the first of the poor decisions, as he was brought down by the outstretched arm of a Swindon defender inside the box. Nothing was given, much to Lee Grant’s bemusement. The second poor decision also was against Tai Sodje, as Aaron Pressley floated a ball to the far post that seemed to float in of its own accord. Sodje was judged to have poked it in. This was ruled, somehow, as an offside on the former Man City youngster, and the score remained 1-1.

The most controversial decision of them all will have undoubtedly been the “tackle” from Connor Ripley on Sodje (again). Ripley appeared to go flying in, studs up and replays will show he did not get anywhere near the ball. Impartially, if that tackle is in the Premier League, VAR review it and it ends with a penalty and a red card.

Swindon on the whole will consider themselves lucky all of these decisions went their way, or the scoreline could have looked a lot different at Full-Time.

Problem Players…or Player Problems?

Its that part of the report again, where I take 2 players that I think will be problematic for the opposite side, and after the game, I see if i was correct.

Walsall’s Problem Player - Courtney Clarke

The Jamaican winger unfortunately did not get on the scoresheet, or claim an assist today, but he did have the clearest chance of the first half from a Walsall perspective, and a better touch could have led to a completely different story altogether. By his standards though, Clarke may well be disappointed with the poor luck he had today, as we know he is capable of scoring or assisting in any game where the ball falls to him kindly. More than half of his dribbles were successful, and the Jamaican’s pass rate was considerably high (73%).

My Verdict- Clarke remains a Problem Player, but luck was definitely not on his side.

Swindon Town’s Problem Player- Aaron

Drinan

Attacking wise, Drinan was the standout for the Robins, scoring a goal that required a striker's instinct after just 5 minutes, however that was his only shot on target. He did prove to be a dangerous outlet for the Robins, having the second-most touches in the Walsall box (4) and competing in the most aerial duels (13) and winning the most for Swindon with 7.

My Verdict- It becomes clear to see why and how he is top scorer for Ian Holloway’s side, and for that reason, he has certainly lived up to the prediction of Problem Player.

Player Ratings

WALSALL- Ward (7), Hancock (5.5), Leak (3), Connolly (6.5), Skura (6), Moore (5), Sprangler (7.5), Clarke (7), Sodje (8), Smith (8), Pressley (7.5).