Walsall's development team returned to action on Wednesday afternoon as they travelled North to Canalside and took on Huddersfield Town B in their latest Central League outing of the season.
Managed by Mat Sadler, this was the Saddlers' third outing of their 2021/22 Central League campaign, following their season-opening 1-1 draw with Preston North End and subsequent 3-0 defeat to Accrington Stanley.
WALSALL TEAM
Hedge; Baldwin, Lynch, Quincey, Cox, Worley, Sarvari, Maher, Toor, Derry, Waddison
Substitutes: Jackson; Angafor, Shaw, Uchenna, Chakki
Substitutes: Jackson; Angafor, Shaw, Uchenna, Chakki
Huddersfield started the game well, creating a number of opportunities to open the scoring, although were unable to dirty goalkeeper Zach Hedge's sheet as he saved from both Kian Harratt and Micah Obiero within two minutes of the start of the game.
Walsall were almost gifted an opening goal after fourteen minutes of play as Arjun Toor was able to take advantage of an under hit pass to drive towards the goalkeeper. Thankfully for the Terriers, 'keeper Michael Roxburgh was alert to the danger and smothered the ball.
Hedge continued to thwart the opposition as he pulled off a superb save to deny Nassim Kherbouche shortly after the halfway point of the first-half, the young stopper doing well to get his weight behind the save.
The Saddlers' defence was ultimately unable to thwart their opponents for the whole game as Brahima Diarra rose highest and headed the ball home from a well-placed corner, a disappointing goal for Hedge as he had done well to deny the hosts for much of the half.
Sadly for the Saddlers it didn't end there as just a couple of minutes after taking the lead, thee Terriers added another goal as Samim Sarvari slotted the ball into his own net after coming under pressure from Obiero.
Buoyed by their quick-fire double, the home side were soon able to add a third as Obiero slammed the ball into the back of the net following Mipo Odubeko's deflected effort. A devastating few minutes for the Saddlers.
Huddersfield continued to push up the field and saw more efforts saved as first Diarra then Odubeko were denied by Hedge, who continued to impress, despite conceding a trio of goals in quick succession.
Walsall were not without their chances and saw an effort go wide of goal in between the two Town efforts as Tom Cox found space and sent a volley just wide of Roxburgh's goal.
Obiero continued to be a threat for the home side and went fairly close to adding another goal shortly before the break as he was able to get on the end of captain Ben Jackson's sublime cross but could only guide his header wide of goal.
HT
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HTAFC
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3-0
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WFC
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The second-half didn't begin as quick as the first, but the first opportunity of the game fell Huddersfield's way as young defender Jaheim Headley broke away from his back-line position to send an effort wide of goal.
The Terriers' search for another goal continued and was almost successful as Headley forced Walsall's Lee Quincey into action as the youngster was able to clear from a well-placed cross.
The Saddlers continued to be placed under pressure as, shortly after Kherbouche saw a header go over the bar, the home side added a fourth goal as Odubeko closed down a defender's clearance to regain the ball and ultimately put the ball into the back of the net.
The home side's dominance continued unabated as Odubeko was once again centre stage, forcing Hedge into another save as his defence was unable to deal with the initial attacking move.
Sadly for Hedge, his disappointing afternoon wasn't at an end as the Terriers went on to add a fifth as Harratt was on hand to take advantage of the 'keeper's error to further extend the home team's already comfortable lead.
Shortly after the Terriers added their fifth, Walsall went close to grabbing a consolation as Ronan Maher forced goalkeeper Roxburgh into a superb save from close range, the Saddlers prospect will probably be disappointed to have seen his effort saved.
Huddersfield's sixth goal arrived after 83-minutes of play as second-half substitute Kit Elliott got on the end of Headley's cross to grab his first goal of the season.
Terriers captain Jackson almost grabbed a seventh goal of the game shortly after the sixth as he saw an effort slam off the post before going out of play, the defender afforded far too much space as the Saddlers prayed for the full-time whistle.
Unfortunately the full-time whistle didn't arrive before the home side made it seven as Jackson was rewarded for his attacking endeavour as he got on the end of an Austerfield through ball before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
FT
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HTAFC
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7-0
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WFC
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Diarra (26') Sarvari (OG - 29') Odubeko (32') Odubeko (63') Harratt (78') Elliott (83') Jackson (85')
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AT
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Canalside
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