After defeating Chasetown in the First Round, the young Saddlers were pitted against Lincoln City in the Second Round, with the two sides battling it out for a place in the Third Round on a chilly evening at the LNER Stadium.
The home side had the better of the opening stages of the contest, with their midfield looking to pressure their counterparts and make some space for an attacking run or two, with the Walsall backline having to be alert to several dangers.
Walsall's first opening of the contest arrived went the way of Charlie Wragg as he forced the home goalkeeper Isaac Allan into a strong save with an effort from a well-worked Saddlers corner kick.
Wragg was also the next Saddler to have an effort on goal as, after breaking through the City backline, his curling effort drew the attention of Allan as he maintained his clean sheet with an acrobatic save.
City continued to create the lion's share of the openings as Walsall's backline occasionally struggled with the Imps' pressing play.
The first goal of the game arrived some thirty-minutes into the first half as, after Zak Poskitt saw an underpowered passback intercepted, Lincoln midfielder Gbolahan Okewoye put the ball into the back of the net.
Lincoln's second goal of the game came a couple of minutes before half-time as Russell Berko got on the end of Alex Simmons' dangerous ball into the box as the home side went into the break with a two-goal lead.
Walsall made a change at the break as Will Etheridge came on for Cayden Bennett, but the change made little difference to the direction of the game as Lincoln added a third goal just moments into the half.
The goal was scored by Zane Okoro as he took control of the ball before slotting it low into Jenson Kilroy's net as the stopper looked frustrated with his backline.
The home side were soon back on the attack and were only denied a fourth goal by the linesman's flag as they had the ball in the back of the net before the flag was raised. A tough time for the Walsall backline.
The fourth goal of the game came shortly before the seventy minute mark and went the way of the Imps as Louis Nesbitt got on the end of a Denny Oliver pass to increase his side's lead.
Both sides made changes as the half progressed, with the Saddlers opting to replace Marley Roberts and Zak Poskitt with Malik Lawal-Olumegbon and Zak Poskitt.
The changes didn't stop the goal-scoring as Baily Adamson remained alert following a goal-mouth scramble and made it five-nil to the Imps with six-minutes of normal time remaining - the Imps making their way into the third round of the competition.
| OKEWOYE (30') BERKO (43') OKORO (46') L.NESBITT (68') ADAMSON (86') |
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| AT | LNER STADIUM |
| REFEREE | WAQAR AHMAD |