Boss Harry Harris believed it would come good for Walsall Wood in the end
Harry Harris praised Walsall Wood for steering clear of the panic button during a thrilling comeback from three down to beat Hinckley Leicester Road.
Tendai Daire snatched an eight-minute hat-trick, including a penalty after keeper Kieran Boucher nudged over Aaron Nuttall while scrambling on the ground, to leave Wood in a spin in the first half.
Harris’s men were shell shocked but gradually settled, Carter Lycett hitting the far post with a free-kick from the right before setting up Joey Butlin to nod in a lifeline from a similar set-piece eight minutes before the break.
Home tails were up seven minutes after the restart when Alex Bradley bundled in another from a deep free-kick and while there were scares at the other end – a Matt Hughes slip almost gifted Daire a fourth – Wood pressure continued to build.
Jai Verma was a persistent menace and was fouled on the left edge of the box with Lycett's free-kick arced across goal for substitute Kevin Monteiro to nod in the leveller.
And Verma was not done, cutting inside in added time with his shot saved by substitute keeper Will Highland only to bounce off a Hinckley body for Butlin to storm in to grab the decider.
“I said at half-time that even when we were 3-0 down, I felt comfortable that we could still win the game,” said Harris.
“I believed in all of them and felt that if they kept going they could still do it.
“I saw that belief in all of them and they were brilliant. They didn’t panic or rush, they put their foot on the ball and kept it at times, we were patient, created good chances and scored good goals.”
Harris also felt the early collapse was down to errors rather than playing poorly.
“It was a very good start by us and we should have taken the lead,” he said.
“We didn’t take that chance, switched off a little bit and gave them three goals – one was a penalty and the other two were really soft from our point of view.
“It was disappointing but after that, the lads showed great character and refused to give up. To be three down and still win is brilliant, I cannot fault the lads, they never know when they are beaten.
“You have to enjoy days like these because they don’t come around very often.”
Wood: Boucher, Mansell, Lycett, Hughes (Monteiro, 79), Reeves, Fitzpatrick, Verma, Unitt, Butlin, Bradley (Watkins, 73) Gyasi (Brown, 90+2). Unused subs: Riley-Stewart, Riley.
Hinckley: Roggero (Highland, 56), Acton, Gill, Edwards, Astill, Humphreys, Read, Burrows (Gore, 67), Daire, Brennan, Nuttall (Williams, 76). Unused sub: Kutshienza.
