Following Friday evening's televised victory over relegation threatened Portsmouth, columnist Rob Jones shares his Match Report;
For the more pessimistic amongst us, tonight was a potential banana skin. A chance to claim three consecutive home wins (when was the last time that happened?) and a second game of the season in front of the Sky cameras, following our fruitless demolition of Shrewsbury back in September.
Thankfully, we have a spirited group of players who'll be the toast of Walsall this evening.
In truth, both sides looked shaky in front of the Sky cameras for the first 15 minutes. Whilst we looked the more potent going forward, wayward passes seemed to be the order of the day, with Downing, Benning, Mantom & Paterson all culprits.
Pompey huffed and puffed and should have been rewarded as a well-timed cross found Benson in acres off space before he blazed an unnecessarily acrobatic volley over the bar.
That seemed to shake us into action. With Brandy looking a menace down our right flank and Grigg making a real nuisance of himself up front, we started to take the game to a Pompey side who simply didn't have the heart to track back and recover possession.
Thankfully we got our reward on 29 minutes as a corner was only partially cleared and when returned into the box and flicked on by Grigg, Brandy tucked the ball away from a tight angle. The inevitable cartwheel-backflip celebration followed, right under the Sky cameras.
From then on, it was simply a case of us turning the screw. 11 minutes later we doubled our lead after a marauding run and beautifully weighted chipped pass from Adam Chambers led to a saved Brandy shot and an accurate, albeit scuffed finish from Grigg.
H/T: Walsall 2 Portsmouth 0
I'd be lying if I said there wasn't an air of apprehension going into the second half - after all, how often has a two goal advantage not proved enough? Against a poor Pompey side though, the result was never really in doubt.
The second half was a case of more of the same. Driven by Adam Chambers who was impeccably effective in midfield, we continued to create chances - two of which fell to Craig Westcarr, who was denied his first Walsall goal by a couple of very good saves.
Will Grigg ran the Pompey back four absolutely ragged and looks to have struck up a solid partnership with Brandy, Paterson and Westcarr, who all made contributions to a pleasing display of football.
Whilst it's almost a cliché to praise every player after a good win, there were genuine seven out of ten performances throughout at the very least. Purkiss, Chambers and Grigg were the pick of the bunch though, with some vintage displays.
So there we have it - three home wins on the bounce, three home clean sheets on the bounce, and a win in front of the Sky cameras. Who'd have thought it?
Walsall 2 (Brandy 29' Grigg 41') Portsmouth 0
Attendance: 4,038
Referee: Scott Hooper
By: Rob Jones
For the more pessimistic amongst us, tonight was a potential banana skin. A chance to claim three consecutive home wins (when was the last time that happened?) and a second game of the season in front of the Sky cameras, following our fruitless demolition of Shrewsbury back in September.Thankfully, we have a spirited group of players who'll be the toast of Walsall this evening.
In truth, both sides looked shaky in front of the Sky cameras for the first 15 minutes. Whilst we looked the more potent going forward, wayward passes seemed to be the order of the day, with Downing, Benning, Mantom & Paterson all culprits.
Pompey huffed and puffed and should have been rewarded as a well-timed cross found Benson in acres off space before he blazed an unnecessarily acrobatic volley over the bar.
That seemed to shake us into action. With Brandy looking a menace down our right flank and Grigg making a real nuisance of himself up front, we started to take the game to a Pompey side who simply didn't have the heart to track back and recover possession.
Thankfully we got our reward on 29 minutes as a corner was only partially cleared and when returned into the box and flicked on by Grigg, Brandy tucked the ball away from a tight angle. The inevitable cartwheel-backflip celebration followed, right under the Sky cameras.
From then on, it was simply a case of us turning the screw. 11 minutes later we doubled our lead after a marauding run and beautifully weighted chipped pass from Adam Chambers led to a saved Brandy shot and an accurate, albeit scuffed finish from Grigg.
H/T: Walsall 2 Portsmouth 0
I'd be lying if I said there wasn't an air of apprehension going into the second half - after all, how often has a two goal advantage not proved enough? Against a poor Pompey side though, the result was never really in doubt.
The second half was a case of more of the same. Driven by Adam Chambers who was impeccably effective in midfield, we continued to create chances - two of which fell to Craig Westcarr, who was denied his first Walsall goal by a couple of very good saves.
Will Grigg ran the Pompey back four absolutely ragged and looks to have struck up a solid partnership with Brandy, Paterson and Westcarr, who all made contributions to a pleasing display of football.
Whilst it's almost a cliché to praise every player after a good win, there were genuine seven out of ten performances throughout at the very least. Purkiss, Chambers and Grigg were the pick of the bunch though, with some vintage displays.
So there we have it - three home wins on the bounce, three home clean sheets on the bounce, and a win in front of the Sky cameras. Who'd have thought it?
Walsall 2 (Brandy 29' Grigg 41') Portsmouth 0
Attendance: 4,038
Referee: Scott Hooper
By: Rob Jones