A young Walsall XI made the short trip to the Sports Ground on Tuesday evening as they took on Lye Town in the First Round of the Birmingham Senior Cup.
With a place against Bedworth United in the Second Round up for grabs, the Saddlers and Flyers were both hoping for an easy evening as they started their BSC campaign.
WALSALL XI TEAM
Hedge; Baldwin, Angafor, McEntee, Lawal-Olumegbon, Allen, Cashman, Shaw, Maher, James-Taylor, Onabirekhanlen
Substitutes: Barrett; Uchenna, Mukuna, Cox, Sarvari
Walsall named a strong squad with a mixture of youth prospects and first-team fringe players making up their lineup as the likes of on-loan Coventry City man Danny Cashman teamed up with first-year scholar Abdul-Malik Lawal-Olumegbon.
The match was a low-scoring affair with the first goal of the game not arriving until fourteen-minutes before half-time as Walsall, who had seen a Taylor Allen cross-cum-shot drift wide of goal before Douglas James-Taylor rattled the bar with a header, fell behind to a Joe Palmer effort as the home side edged closer to securing a place in the next round.
However, their route to the Second Round was eventually struck by a diversion as the Saddlers got themselves back on level terms twenty-minutes into the second forty-five when Marvellous Onabirekhanlen, who is currently with Dan Baldwin on loan at Worcester City, netted from outside the area.
There were no further goals as the match finished all-square with penalties taken to decide who take on Bedworth United in the next round.
It was Lye Town who ultimately made it through as they advanced by four penalties to two, a disappointing evening for a far-from-weak Walsall side.
BIRMINGHAM SENIOR CUP
| LYE TOWN | 1-1 | WALSALL XI |
| 4 | PENALTIES | 2 |
| PALMER (31') | ONABIREKHANLEN (66') |
| AT | THE SPORTS GROUND |
| REFEREE | ANDREW HENDLEY |