Walsall were simply breathtaking the way they came back from two goals down at home to Hartlepool United to slam in five second half goals to not only win against all odds but also to move out of the drop zone again. A little bit of history was made too. Never before have Walsall been two down at the Banks's Stadium and win a game by more than three goals.
Both sides took a while to get going with very little action at either end. Sam Collins headed over for the visitors on 11 minutes and two minutes later United's Gary Liddle headed just wide too. There was a blow for The Saddlers when Jon Macken went off on just 16 minutesand was replaced by Will Grigg.
Hartlepool took the lead on 20 minutes when Gary Liddle crossed from the right and there was Colin Larkin right in front of goal to fire home. Very little had been seen of Walsall as an attacking force in that first half. The Saddlers bucked up their ideas at the start of the second half, however, but fell further behind to that man Larkin who again scored from fairly close range with 51 minutes on the clock. Four minutes later Saddlers made a substitution replacing Alex Nicholls with Emmanuel Ledesma. It was a great move by manager Dean Smith and on 59 minutes Walsall got back into the game with a goal by Will Grigg before Darren Byfield got Walsall on level terms with a header.
It was a whole new ball game now and the home side took the lead on 77 minutes through Julian Gray. Darren Byfield was given a standing ovation when he was replaced by Clayton Mc donald. Walsall's fans were in dreamland when Manny Smith headed home a fourth before a champaigne moment arrived in the 93rd minute when Ledesma, who the sponsors named man of the match scored from a free kick. It was quite an afternoon that won't be forgotten in a long time.
