Traffic problems on the M6 meant that I could only have
an hour with Carlisle posters and friends of WalsallMAD
Baldy_Blue and Kynson in the rugby club but it was nice
to meet up with these two footie nuts (who think nothing
of doing a 14 hour round trip to Brighton for a Tuesday
evening away game to see their heroes in action!)
As for the game well Walsall started off brightly enough
in the opening minutes but were indebted to young goalie
Rene Gilmartin who saved a certain goal bound shot with
his legs however he was powerless ro stop Paul Thirlwell's
strike on 19 minutes that went in via the underside of the
bar.
This gave way to a long spell which quite frankly Carlisle
looked as if they would score every time they moved
forward.Their wide men were tormenting our fullbacks at
will.Taylor shot over and Graham fired wide.Anyinsah
wasted a golden chance from just six yards out so it
could easily have been 3 or 4 goals up by the home
side at half time and there wouldn't have been any
complaints if that was the case.
Walsall did manage to get the ball in the back of the net
in the13th minute when Jabo slotted home but the ref
disallowed it.Took many of the estimated 100 visiting
fans a second or two to realise that we hadn't taken the
lead. It became so apparent that compared to Carlisle's
use of wide men there wasn't much happening down
Walsall's flanks.Zaaboub and Nicholls so very
ineffective.Mark Bradley did come close with one effort
that was tipped over the bar.
In the second half Carlisle were not as effective as in
the first period and the game became a little stale.
Hutchings introduced Ricketts and Williams for Jabo
and Deeney on the hour in an effort to get back in the
game.Gradually Saddlers were making better use of
the wings and Ricketts-who was looking quite sharpe-
was linking up play and finding men with passes.
On 84 mins Walsall got an unlikely goal back due
to a bitterly contested penalty.Zaaboub ran at the defence,
seemed to be about to lose the ball in the box and the
outstretched leg of the defender made contact, albiet
very minimal contact,with the wide man and down he
went.The referee, who was very near to the incident,
had no hesitation to point to the spot much to the
annoyance of the home players and fans alike.
Michael Ricketts stepped up with a bit of a stutter and
a stop but gave the keeper no chance.As on many
other occassions this season Walsall suddenly came to
life and with four minutes of time added on had the
nerve to look for the winner.Bradley went close with
one shot and Ricketts had another blocked. The closing
stages also saw Gilmartin pressed into action to get down
and smother a shot through a ruck of players.So honours
even at the end.Carlisle should have won this game and
will rue those first half missed chances.The disputed
penalty stuck in their claw and they gave the ref a right
seeing two as he walked down the tunnel.For Walsall
a disappointing night.Lucky to escape a hiding but
credit for getting something out of the game.My man
of the match would go to Rene for those couple of smart
saves and his general performance.