Walsall started off in a positive frame of mind at Rochdale on Saturday and took the lead in the 4th minute when accepting a pass from Darren Byfield, Jon Macken controlled the ball well, turned and produced a low shot that gave Saddlers the green light to start knocking the ball about and for the opening period looked so confident going forward.
In the 22nd minute however a quite calamitious blunder from Walsall keeper Jon Brain let the home side in giftinga goal they hardly deserved. He dropped a harmless looking corner at the feet of Josh Thompson who finished with ease. Both sets of fans were chanting 'dodgy keeper' at the luckless Brain who has been responsible for a number of goals this season and he was at it again in the 44th minute when he spilled a shot on the line, the ball ran between his legs and Anthony Elding couldn't believe his good fortune as he tapped in on the goal line.
Within a minute Walsall were back on level terms thanks to a super effort from Darren Byfield. He latched onto a ball just inside the Rochdale half, had four or five home players closing him down but hit a sweetly struck shot from fully 30 yards to send the travelling Walsall fans wild. However at half time the talk was that Saddlers should have been two or three up and costing if it wasn't for the keeper's nightmare performance.
In the second half Saddlers started well and on 48 minutes Clayton Mc Donald smacked a header against the bar. Midway through the half Mc Donald was guilty of a foul just inside the box and veteran striker Gary Jones scored from the spot kick which knocked the stuffing out of the team somewhat. Rochdale had a good goal wiped out and although Saddlers tried their best couldn't square the game and lost 2-3. Walsall had a terrific following of noisy fans who did their best to cheer their team to a better result.
