From the depths of despair at Oldham last Saturday the Super Saddlers exceeded all expectations by recording a historic 2-1 win at Leeds United on Tuesday! Its beyond belief that a team can change from one end of the spectrum to the other in just a few days! Walsall gave a full debut to winger Julian Gray who is at the Banks's Stadium till the end of the season.
From the off Walsall were in a determined mood at Elland Road and were more than matching the team second in the table. Leeds looked dangerous breaking from midfield but lacked the killer edge in front of goal. Walsall were trying to forge ahead with some moves of their own and keeper Clayton Ince made a couple of useful saves to ensure that his team didn't concede in the opening 45 minutes.
Kicking towards their fans assembled in the corner of the ground, the ball came to Gray who chipped a perfect ball to Dwayne Mattis in space who found the net to send the travelling supporters absolutely delighted that that should take a shock 1-0 lead...that wasn't in the script! Within 10 minutes Leeds drew level as Gary Mc Sheffrey whipped in a ball from outside the box which totally deceived Ince and allowed the home side back in.
Leeds were now vibrant and began to cause panic whenever they went forward and it seemed that it was only going to be a matter of time before they grabbed another. As in recent games however the Walsall defence held firm and in the 80th minute took the lead for the second time as a header from Clayton Mc Donald was deemed to have gone over the line before the home goalkeeper Ankergren could knock it out.
The last 10 minutes of normal time plus the 5 minutes of time added on seemed an absolute life time but the joyous scenes by the players and fans alike at the final whistle were amazing. Walsall had never won at Leeds in 6 previous visits and the situation had to be milked. I haven't been to a rewarding away game like this in a long time. The entire team were heroes and they made the supporters feel very proud on a never-to-be-forgotten night.
