Today was our
stiffest examination of our credentials and to be honest we graduated with
flying colours. The GCSE rejects of last
term have flowered into the brightest of sparks that they are today. The team that looked odds on during a painful
summer to be relegated have come through, blossomed and look a more than useful
side. The P word is on the tip of my
tongue and should we mess this season up, missing the automatic
places and the play offs then the rest of this poxy division had better watch
out next time round. Graydon has us on
the march and after today I suspect that everyone knows it.
Ok, we only
won by the odd goal but the manner in which we did it was superb. The openly, if not overly respectful Saddlers of the opening minutes quickly overcame their stage fright and scared the
living daylights out of the league leaders to the point that for much of the
first hour Stoke resembled rabbits frozen by the glare of the headlights from
an oncoming articulated lorry.
Only a
combination of poor finishing and bad luck kept the scoreline down as Walsall
simply overran an organised and functional visiting side. The Clayheads have done much better than many
people expected this term and have basically led the division from the start of
the season but they surely haven’t run into a better footballing side than us. Our speed of thought, our movement and our passing was a thrill as the hard miles of training ground work blossomed into
the performance so far this season.
The back four
nullified the Potters attack, the midfield eventually got the better of their
compatriots and Rammell and Otta ran the legs off a pretty lead footed Stoke
back four.
Following a
nervy start the boys got into full flow and created a fair amount of
chances. Wrack looped a header over the
bar, Otta and Keates mis-hit chances
before Rammell connected with a long ball and smashed his shot onto the top of
the bar with the keeper well beaten. If
that had gone in the place would have exploded.
Chances were
coming regularly though and in reality the only problems Stoke were causing us
were down our right as Brian Small used his pace to good effect. He really is pretty pacy and each time Wrack
attacked him he always had that extra yard of pace to fall back on.
Unlike the
defender on the other side.
As half time
approached Pingu fed Pointon a diagonal ball which teased the right back into a
lunge, Pointon saw it, cut inside and slipped his opponent. He then crossed a perfectly measured centre for
Rammell to dive full length and do what he does best. From the second that the ball left NP’s foot
it was a goal, Rambo, with a free header to meet, was never going to miss that
one.
Bescot went
absolutely fucking potty. The foundations tested to the max as the place
literally shook in celebration, indeed I honestly can’t remember another moment
like it at our new(ish) place. Marshy’s
goal against Leeds came close but was at the other end, Rammell did it in front
of his people. A class finish from a
class act.
Half time
came and went and the second half followed much the same pattern. Stoke seemed unable to get into the game and
the hideously one footed Kevin Keen looked badly, if not embarrassingly, out of
his depth.
We picked up
two bookings for timewasting and Stoke received the same punishment for a two
footed tackle and an elbow. Good to see
that the punishments are measured with the same punishment. Both Stoke players
can count themselves lucky boys as either could have seen red instead of
yellow.
As the game
wore on the Saddlers fell further and further back and ended up defending our
eighteen yard line. Those last ten minutes seemed longer than a night on the
streets of Baghdad as Stoke produced an ariel raid into our penalty box that
even Clinton and Blair would have envied. We held firm though, Stoke were never
going to score, and took the points in a utterly faultless display.
I can't
remember Walker having a shot to save in the whole ninety minutes although we
did have to hack one chance off the line.
Elsewhere a
clearly unfit Richard Green was inspired as he led a magnificent back four to
another clean sheet. In many ways Green
had today typified the season so far. So
much bottle, determination and fight backed up with more than a hint of quality
and pride in his job.
Gillingham
must have a cracking backline if they could afford to let this fellow go. He couldn’t run in the second half but still
made it to the ball whenever he needed to and basically ran the show. The sponsors gave Rammell the man of the
match but no-one deserved it more than Ritchie Green.
Merry
Christmas everyone.