Emphatic defeat hits Walsall hopes

Southend 1 Walsall 0

As one nil defeats go, this was as emphatic as they come, writes Sean Calvert.

Walsall's sixth consecutive match without a win came courtesy of one of their worst displays of the season and Southend, having completed the double over the Saddlers, must be wondering how on earth Walsall are in contention for play-off place after this bloodless victory.

Richard Money, even after this defeat, or more tellingly the manner of it, still believes that they are in with a chance of making the top six at the end of the season.

But any of the 339 Saddlers fans that made the long trip to the Essex coast might find that hard to comprehend based on this display.

For Money's men were simply not at the races from first whistle to last and looked like a side that were badly lacking in confidence and belief after a dreadful March that has seen them slip from fifth place to tenth in the League One table.

The fact that it took until the final ten minutes of a match where they were second best in virtually every department to muster any sort of an effort on goal, highlighted just how dominant the Shrimpers were and had their first choice striker Hal Robson-Kanu not injured himself during the warm up, the scoreline could have had a more emphatic ring to it.

As Money pointed out afterwards, Southend would not feature too highly on the wish-list of many managers as a place to visit to try to put a stop to a poor run of form and results.

This defeat has not put an end to Walsall's play-off hopes, but it will take a major turnaround for them to finish in the top six if they put in another 90 minutes like this in their final matches of the season.

If there are any positives that Money can take from this defeat it is that should they beat Tranmere on Saturday, they would be right back in the mix and he has several experienced players to come back into the side, plus the option of handing new signing Aaron Brown a debut.

The downside is that Walsall have only twice this season beaten a side that were in the top six at the time of the match – Hartlepool in September and Nottingham Forest in December – which gives credence to Money's regularly heard view that they have been 'overachieving' by being in and around the play-off places for the last three months.

A vast improvement is required if they are to have any chance of taking the three points at Tranmere, as Money made clear to the players in the dressing room afterwards, but the most telling statistic of their dreadful March is that they managed just four goals in seven matches and top scorer Tommy Mooney hasn't found the back of the net in 11.

Another telling statistic is that since Michael Ricketts played his last game for the club in January, Walsall have managed only four wins from 16 matches and it is this lack of a regular partner for Mooney that has adversely affected their results.

The effect of the loss of Scott Dann and Danny Fox has been well documented, of course, and obviously their switch to Coventry was a big blow to their promotion aspirations, but the defence hasn't conceded more than two goals in a single game since their departure, which suggests that the key issue is at the other end of the pitch.

To try to solve this problem, Money – partly due to necessity – handed starts to Troy Deeney and Alex Nicholls after the pair impressed from the bench against Crewe.

Nicholls was handed the role of Mooney's partner up front, but failed to take his chance and was removed at half time, as was Deeney who was operating on the right side of midfield.

Money also gave starts to Richard Taundry and Mark Bradley in midfield in a much- altered side from the last-gasp Easter Monday draw with Crewe.

The youngsters had an afternoon from which they will gain much in the way of experience, but which did not live up to the plaudits that they have earned with some excellent displays this season.

Once Southend had found their range after a quiet opening spell, they piled on the pressure.

They should have taken the lead through first the pacy James Walker, who flashed an effort narrowly wide of Clayton Ince's goal and then through the impressive left winger Mark Gower, whose thunderbolt rattled the underside of the crossbar and may even have crossed the line before being cleared.

It would have been no more than the Shrimpers deserved for an opening 45 minutes in which they passed Walsall off the park – aided by Saddlers' inability to keep possession of the ball.

Money's half time team talk can't have been a complimentary one, as Walsall failed to create a single threat to Darryl Flahavan in the Southend goal and consequently Nicholls and Deeney were removed from the action, replaced by Stefan Moore and Alassane N'Dour.

The substitutions had little effect though as the home side opened the scoring within two minutes of the second half.

Gower played left-back Charlie Mulgrew in down the left and the on-loan Wolves man delivered a perfect cross for Lee Barnard to stab the ball home with the aid of a deflection off Anthony Gerrard.

It was just one of many fine crosses that Mulgrew supplied in an impressive performance, which must have left Saddlers fans wondering why they weren't in the race to sign him on loan from their close neighbours when he joined Southend at the end of the January transfer window.

Gower and Mulgrew gave Rhys Weston a tough time and it was from an error by the Saddlers right back that Southend should have added the second.

He gave the ball away in a dangerous position and Barnard found the run of Alan McCormack, who should have done better.