Walsall were back in action on Saturday afternoon as they made the fairly short trip to the One Call Stadium where they were due to take on the in-form Mansfield Town.
After being held to a late draw by Crawley Town in midweek, the Saddlers were hoping to become the first team to defeat Mansfield in the league so far this season, with striker, and former Stag, Danny Johnson vying for a place in the starting line-up.
The match got off to something of a slow start as the two teams looked for an opening, sadly for the Saddlers, it was the visitors who took the lead as defender Aden Flint put the ball into the back of the net some seventeen minutes into the contest.
Walsall were second best for much of the contest but did take their chance when it came their way as midfielder Ryan Stirk netted his second goal of the season as he got on the end of a cross to put the ball beyond Christy Pym to level the scores.
Mansfield got themselves back into the lead around midway through the second forty-five as Jordan Bowery finished off substitute Will Swan's attacking drive as his effort went off the post and in.
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
| MANSFIELD | 2-1 | WALSALL |
| FLINT (17') BOWERY (71') |
GOALSCORERS |
STIRK (52') |
| SWAN (71') | ASSISTS | KNOWLES (52') |
| 60 | POSS (%) | 40 |
| 19 | SHOTS (TOTAL) | 7 |
| 6 | SHOTS (ON TARGET) | 1 |
| 6 | CORNERS | 5 |
| 12 | FOULS | 11 |
| 3 | YELLOW CARDS | 2 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
| AT | ONE CALL STADIUM |
| ATTENDANCE | 7,641 (778 WALSALL) |
| REFEREE | DAVID ROCK |
MANSFIELD TOWN
Pym; Bowery, Flint, Brunt 🟨 (Cargill, 46'), MacDonald, Reed, Lewis, Clarke (Boateng, 79' 🟨), Maris (Swan, 63'), Keillor-Dunn, Akins (Gale, 30' 🟨)
Unused: Flinders, Williams, Johnson
WALSALL
Evans; Riley, Okagbue, Daniels, Gordon; Comley 🟨, Stirk (Matt, 82'); Knowles 🟨 (Allen, 88'), Tierney, Hutchinson (James-Taylor, 78'); Johnson
Unused: Smith, Foulkes, Griffiths