Reds head to the Bescot Stadium tomorrow looking for a marked improvement on the result of our last visit to Walsall.
That was back in April 2015 when Dean Saunders’ side were in the middle of an ultimately unsuccessful League One relegation battle. The hosts led 1-0 at the break and with 25 minutes to go Crawley were still in the game, but Jordy Hiwula made it 2-0 and Walsall then scored three more goals and ended up winning 5-0.
It was our first defeat in three visits to the Bescot. In March 2013, goals from Paul Hayes and Jamie Proctor put us 2-0 up going into stoppage time but, incredibly, the Saddlers struck twice in added time to take a point. Will Grigg was among their scorers.
A year later two goals from Matt Tubbs, who had joined us on loan, put Reds 2-0 up. Sam Mantom pulled one back but John Gregory’s side held on for a deserved 2-1 victory.
Reds have never lost at home in three meetings with the Saddlers. Jonathan Forte got an 81st-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw in November 2012 after Billy Clarke had scored in the first half.
The November 2013 meeting finished goalless and in October 2014 Conor Henderson’s late free-kick (pictured above) sealed a 1-0 victory.
