By 4two
October 26 2002

This was a goalless draw that on any other day could have been a high scoring draw or a convincing victory for either side. The best chances fell to Wrack, who's shot was blocked when he hesitated in front of goal and Bothroyd who saw his second half diving header flash wide.

Coventry City 0-0 Walsall 

TheSaddlersFC Full Time Match Report

The nil - nil Scoreline may make the game sound like it was a drab and dreary affair, but anyone who was at Highfield Road this afternoon will have thoroughly enjoyed this exciting encounter between two teams who were battling for a win right until the final whistle.

Colin Lee didn't make any changes to the starting eleven, with Danny Hay failing a fitness test. While Gary MaCalister was out with a groin injury for Coventry.

The opening half an hour saw Walsall have the best of the play, with some good movement in the Coventry half looking like it would create opportunities. City were always going be dangerous on the break and on 10 minutes Jay Bothroyd saw his near post effort fly high and wide after he thought he had found some space to get his volley away. Five Minutes later and  Wrack and Simpson both had chances to put the Saddlers in front, but they were wasted. Wrack in particular had a golden opportunity as the ball fell to him right in the middle of the penalty area, but he hesitated in getting his shot away, which allowed Hyldegaard to block his effort.

Walsall's domination of the opening half an hour was nearly rewarded when Darren Wrack got a shot away from the right hand side of the area which Hyldegaard had enough time to get too and tip around the post. The resulting corner amounted to nothing, which became a growing trend with Saddlers set pieces. 

On 25 Minutes the sharp McSheffreys' awareness found him on the edge of the Walsall box, and with Aranalde and Carbon nowhere to be seen,  he attempted to lob the Saddlers Keeper, but Jimmy anticipated Mcsheffreys' chip and was able to palm his effort over the bar. This incident more or less signaled the end to Walsall's control of the game. For half an hour or so they had passed the ball well and managed to get behind what looked like an uncomfortable Coventry back four. The only problem was that the Walsall forwards were hesitating to shoot or play through balls, and by the time they had made their choice Coventry had acted to thwart any attempt. Junior and Jorge were perhaps the most frustrating when it came to this because despite some good touches, flicks and build up play, when it came to it they didn't produce the goods. 

Junior did have a chance to make an impact on the game on 25 minutes. A free kick had been awarded to the Saddlers for  a foul on Corica about 5 yards outside the box to right of the "D" by 2 or 3 yards. Junior stepped up to take it, and  saw his effort fly just wide of Coventry goal. 

As half time drew closer both sides had a flurry of chances right after each other. On 42 minutes Bothroyd's'  shot was competently dealt with by Walker who set up a quick Saddlers counter attack, which ended in a weak Junior shot from edge of the Coventry area. Both sides went in at half time being unlucky not be in the lead.

Half Time - Coventry City 0-0 The Saddlers

The second half was equally as entertaining. Coventry came out and took the game to Walsall with Bothroyd, Partridge and Pipe trying to get behind the Walsall back four and cause problems. Fortunately for the Saddlers both Carbon and Roper were at the top of their game and were able to nip any problems in the bud.

The first real chances of the half fell to Coventry with Partridges right footed shot from the right wing being caught by Walker, before Bothroyd missed arguably the best chance of the whole game.  Partridge had been switched to the right flank by Macalister, and it seemed to be paying off with Aranalde finding him more of a problem that Bazeley had. Bothroyd's chance had resulted from a  Partridge cross that Bothroyd met with a diving header from 6 yards out, which he directed just the right of the Walsall goal

Any Walsall breaks were not amounting to anything, and the Saddlers were finding it hard to mount any period of sustained pressure. The forwards were finding it hard to hold the ball up, while the creative qualities of Junior and Corica were being nullified by Coventry doubling up on them when they were in possession. What made it worse was that the Saddlers were still seeming to dwell on the ball and not quiet penetrating the Coventry defence as much as they could.

On the hour mark Coventry made three changes,  Jay Bothroyd was replaced by John Eustace, McSheffrey was replaced by Kerr while the out of sorts Chippo was replaced by forward Lee Mills. Five minutes later Lee chose to replace Junior with Zdrilic.

The final 15 minutes saw Corica and Kerr both have efforts from outside the area, while Gordon took a free kick from the same area Junior had in the first half with the same result. Over all, the changes by both managers had taken players out of the game that had the ability to create that something extra that is needed to win a game. The final minute saw a Leitao shot from the edge of the area blocked by Davenport resulting in a corner which was caught by Morten Hyldgaard. 

Full Time - Coventry City 0-0 The Saddlers

TheSaddlersFC Player Form

  Walker 9, Aranalde 8, Carbon 7, Roper 9, Bazeley 8, Wrack 8, Simpson 7, O Connor 6, Corica 7, Junior 7, Leitao 7  SUBS:  Zrdilic 6.

Ian Roper Wins TheSaddlersFC Man of the Match Award  after a number of timely challenges and interventions that kept the Saddlers in the game. Jimmy Walker ran him close with 3 or 4 saves which could have easily resulted in Coventry goals. Martin O'Connor only gets a 6, he was guilty of giving away possession on a number of occasions and was well below par. Corica and Junior were also guilty of giving away possession despite some nice touches during the game (they need to be consistent throughout the game). Carbon had a mixed game, he did make the odd error, but Walker and Roper were their to cover it up. Wrack was the pick of the midfielders, showing lots of energy going forward, while also being effective defensively.

 Nationwide League Division 1 - Form Table - Last 5 games.

The form table justifies today's result of a draw. Both sides are in similar form. Crystal Palace, our next opponents are also in the same vein of form.

	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Seq	Last 5 H	Last 5 A
Watford	5	4	0	1	6	4	2	12	WLWWW	WWWDW	LWDWL
Portsmouth	5	3	1	1	10	4	6	10	WDWWL	DWWWW	WWLWW
Reading	5	3	1	1	8	3	5	10	LWWDW	WDLLW	LWWDW
Sheff United	5	3	1	1	11	7	4	10	DWWWL	DWLWW	WWDWL
Burnley	5	3	1	1	8	7	1	10	LDWWW	LWWDW	DWWDW
Wolves	5	3	0	2	11	5	6	9	WWLLW	WLWLD	WLLLW
Nottm Forest	5	2	3	0	9	7	2	9	DDWWD	DWWLW	DWDWW
Gillingham	5	2	2	1	7	5	2	8	WWDLD	WLDLD	WDDLW
Norwich	5	2	2	1	7	5	2	8	LDWDW	WDWLW	LDWWD
Crystal Palace	5	1	4	0	10	5	5	7	WDDDD	WDLWD	DDDDD
Millwall	5	2	1	2	9	8	1	7	WLDLW	WDLLW	LWDLL
Coventry	5	1	3	1	6	5	1	6	DDDWL	DDLDW	DWDWL
Walsall	5	1	3	1	7	7	0	6	DDLDW	DWLLL	DLDWL
Leicester	5	1	3	1	3	3	0	6	DLDWD	LWWWW	DDDWD
Derby	5	1	3	1	3	5	-2	6	LDDDW	DDLLW	LDWWL
Rotherham	5	1	2	2	9	7	2	5	WDDLL	WDLWD	DLWLL
Bradford	5	1	2	2	4	7	-3	5	WLDDL	WDDDD	LLLWW
Preston	5	1	2	2	6	10	-4	5	WDDLL	WLDDD	DDLWD
Ipswich	5	1	1	3	5	10	-5	4	LDLWL	LDWLD	LLWLD
Grimsby	5	1	1	3	4	9	-5	4	LDLWL	DWLLL	LLWLL
Wimbledon	5	0	3	2	4	6	-2	3	DDDLL	DLLLW	DDLLW
Sheff Wed	5	1	0	4	4	8	-4	3	LWLLL	WLDDW	LLLDD
Stoke	5	0	2	3	3	10	-7	2	LLLDD	LDDWD	LLDWL
Brighton	5	0	0	5	3	13	-10	0	LLLLL	LLLLL	LLLLL

After Match Reaction - 

Reaction : 4two - We predicted a point before hand, and we got it. 1 defeat in 7 is good form. No wins in the last 4 is bad form. We have both records, but either way a point away at what will be a top 6 side is good.  It was a shame Leitao couldn't have put in a similar performance to the one we saw last week, or that Junior couldn't and wouldn't shoot earlier like he did last week. We had some good passages of possession, but at times weren't poignant enough. This result does show we can compete at this level.

Who's place may be under threat ?	Junior didn't produce the goods today, Zrdilic and Birch are available and hungry for first team football. Carbon looked shaky at times, he may merely be deputizing for the Kiwi.
How Did Colin Lee do today?	As we have come to expect, he sent the Saddlers out to attack and bring back the points.  The side had the right mentality today.  Corica seemed to be on the periphery of play at times, the average fan would have liked to have seen him involved more. It was unfortunate Herivelto didn't get a game today after his mid week hatrick.
TheSaddlersFC Recommends....	Get Herivelto involved ! Give him a chance on Tuesday ! He has been playing well for the reserves !

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