Walsall kicked of February with a mouth watering game at Roker Park to face Sunderland for this top of the table clash. With Saddlers fans not visiting this ground for 25 years plus their lofty position in the table, there was plenty of interest to see the team in action and it was believed that as many as 1000 Walsall fans made the trip to Wearside. Indeed there were 13 coaches booked and had a police escort to and from the ground as the coaches had to park some distance away. Walsall were simply magnificent all afternoon and had the ball in the net as early as the second minute. Winger Willie Naughton zoomed down the left, sent over an inviting cross which was met beautifully by Mark Goodwin but an eagle-eyed linesman had noticed a push by Trevor Christie in the build up. Walsall’s brisk start continued in the next minute when David Kelly fired just wide from 20 yards. However Walsall’s good start was rewarded in the 24th minute when Goodwin again hit a pearler, this time his 25 yarder was allowed to stand. Sunderland, who rarely threatened in the first half, were much more determined and positive about their play after the break and got back into the game on 66 minutes through defender Gary Bennett. In the latter stages Willie Naughton hit a post and Sunderland’s Eric Gates had a goal disallowed for handball. A 1-1 draw was just about right on ballance but it was a case really of what might have been. Continue reading →

Walsall kicked off the year of 1988 with two games in the opening two days of January with a draw and a win and were still giving away daft goals along the way, something which had been a re-occuring nightmare for manager Tommy Coakley for most of the season. On New Year’s Day Walsall made the short trip to Northampton Town who in those days played at the County Ground, an odd place to play as the one side of the pitch was just roped off as the area was used for county cricket games in the summer. Saddlers started off well enough and took an eighth- minute lead through midfielder Paul Jones who netted with a fine overhead kick from Nicky Cross’s centre. Walsall were in sparkling form with the home defence ripped apart time and time again, despite playing the offside trap at will just like they did at Fellows Park on the opening day of the season. Within seven minutes of their first goal, Walsall found themselves 2-0 up with Jones the provider this time as his corner was flicked on by Graeme Forbes for Nicky Cross to do the rest. It was, at this point, a question of just how many Saddlers would score, such was their stranglehold on the game. The second half was, however, a different matter as The Cobblers made use of the strong wind which was now in their favour and got back into the game with goals from Phil Chard and Glenville Donegal to square the game at 2-2. Continue reading →