Walsall 1 Bradford 2 - Report

The hosts started brightly but again failed to fashion clear opportunities on goal. Levi Sutton took advantage of that and smashed in a brilliant opener from 20 yards to put Bradford in the lead.

With the game finely poised former Walsall striker Andy Cook seemingly ended all hopes for the Saddlers when he neatly finished the Bantams’ second goal.

But Walsall fought back and reduced the deficit through Dan Scarr before taking control of the game looking for an equaliser.

Despite dominating the closing stages, and throwing every man into the box, they failed to find a second strike and fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Brian Dutton made five changes to his Walsall side, moving to a 4-4-2 formation.

Academy midfielder Sam Perry made his professional league debut and came into the team alongside Villa loanee Tyreik Wright, who returned from injury.

Derick Osei Yaw made his first Saddlers start since joining on-loan in January, while Wes McDonald returned to the starting XI.

Max Melbourne was originally set to start but pulled out of the team during the warm-up. Callum Cockerill-Mollett took his place, for his first start since November, and Frank Vincent moved onto the bench after being surprisingly left out.

Player-coach Mat Sadler, who captained the side, kept his place and made his 100th Walsall appearance.

Cameron Norman, Emmanuel Osadebe and Caolan Lavery all dropped to the bench.

Jack Nolan was back among the substitutes as Tom Leak and Jayden Reid missed out on the squad.

Joint-bosses Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars made two changes to their Bradford side, starting in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Olly Crankshaw and former Saddlers striker Cook came into the team.

Only four minutes into the game Perry was booked for a tackle in midfield. Although it was strong, a caution seemed harsh from referee Scott Oldham.

In what was a fairly bright start from Walsall, Osei Yaw had a half-chance early on but his shot from inside the box crashed into the side netting.

Perry then fed Wright on the wing who ran confidently towards the byline and whipped in a dangerous cross.

Bradford almost capitalised on some slack Saddlers defending when a Charles Vernam dink found Crankshaw, who ran beyond the Walsall backline, but his shot was poor and flashed wide.

Only minutes later Crankshaw had another effort go just wide of the post as Bradford began to threaten.

A Vernam shot from 20 yards was straight at Liam Roberts after the 30-minute mark as Walsall, for all their nice possession, failed to hurt the Bradford defence.

McDonald, who had a quiet half, delivered a decent cross towards the back post and after Niall Canavan missed the ball it ran out for a goal-kick. It would have been an easy finish for Wright had he anticipated the defender missing the ball.

After a period where the Saddlers were enjoying a fine spell of possession, the visitors took the lead against the run of play in the 43rd minute. Sutton picked the ball up on the edge of the box, to the right side, and smashed in a brilliant effort from 20 yards that hit the underside of the bar.

The Saddlers entered the break losing 1-0 after a half that saw them put together some nice attacking moves, and get into good positions, but fail to test the Bradford goalkeeper.

As the teams emerged for the second half Walsall made a tactical switch to a 5-2-1-2 formation. Wright and Cockerill-Mollett became wing-backs and McDonald moved centrally behind Josh Gordon and Osei Yaw.

Roberts came to Walsall’s rescue when he clawed away an Anthony O’Connor header, after he met a Callum Cooke corner. The Saddlers were released on a swift counter-attack as a result, but failed to make it count.

Vincent and Cameron Norman were introduced after 65 minutes as Walsall fought for a way back into the game, but only a minute later Bradford made it 2-0.

Cook, back on his old stomping ground, brought down a Sutton cross and after turning in the box nestled the ball into the bottom corner.

In the 77th minute Walsall gave themselves a lifeline. A Wright corner was flicked on and found its way into the net. There was some confusion over who got the final touch, with Scarr believed to have been awarded the goal.

With the Saddlers on top Gordon was clipped in the box and seemingly fouled, but the referee did not give the penalty.

Vincent almost found the equaliser when he raced towards goal but blazed his shot over the bar.

The Saddlers battled for a late equaliser but it never came as they were condemned to defeat.

Teams

Walsall: Roberts, White, Scarr, Sadler, Cockerill-Mollett (Norman, 65), Wright, Perry (Vincent, 65), Bates, McDonald, Gordon, Osei Yaw (Lavery, 57).

Subs not used: Rose, Sinclair, Osadebe, Nolan.

Bradford: Hornby, O’Connor, O’Connor, Canavan, Wood, Sutton, Watt, Vernam (Stevens, 87), Cooke (Clarke, 72), Crankshaw (Donaldson, 87), Cook (Rowe, 72).

Subs not used: O’Donnell, Cousin-Dawson, Scales.