Crawley 1 Walsall 0 - Report

The Saddlers made a strong start to the game and saw George Miller have a goal chalked off for a tight offside in the first five minutes.

A fairly open first half saw both sides fashion opportunities but fail to find an elusive goal.

The second half was a much quieter affair but Sam Perry went close when his strike hit the post.

Crawley finally took the lead through Hutchinson when he smashed home from 20 yards for the in-form hosts.

Walsall substitute Devante Rodney had a big chance with 12 minutes remaining but saw his effort cleared off the line as the Saddlers were condemned to defeat.

Michael Flynn made four changes to his Walsall side following their win over Carlisle on Good Friday, but kept the 3-5-2 formation.

Tom Leak, Rollin Menayese, Zak Mills and Perry all came in as Hayden White, Donervon Daniels, Reece Devine and Tyrese Shade dropped to the bench.

Stephen Ward dropped out of the squad altogether and was replaced among the substitutes by young midfielder Jack Shaw.

John Yems made two changes to his Crawley side as they started in a 3-4-3 formation.

Sam Matthews and Hutchinson came in for Jack Payne and Kwesi Appiah who both missed out on the squad due to injury.

Crawley only named five substitutes as the squad was hit with several injury issues.

With only 20 seconds on the clock Walsall had a good chance when a nice through ball from Perry put Miller through on goal and after cutting onto his left foot, he smashed hit shot into the set netting.

After five minutes Miller did have the ball in the net after latching onto a deflected shot from Perry and slotting home from five yards. The linesman was very late putting his flag up but eventually chalked the goal off for offside. There were other Walsall players offside that did not interfere with play but Miller’s call was extremely tight.

Crawley’s first chance came when the two players who came into their side combined. Matthews fed Hutchinson on the edge of the box and his right-footed shot was lashed wide of the post.

Following Walsall’s good start the hosts began to see some joy as they controlled possession. A superb ball from Joel Lynch had Will Ferry racing down the left flank and his low cross was almost met by striker Ashley Nadesan.

There was a scare for Saddlers goalkeeper Carl Rushworth when he took too long with the ball at his feet and saw his clearance closed down by Matthews. Fortunately for the visitors the ricochet did not have enough power to land in their own net and Rushworth dived on the loose ball.

Moments later, Perry had a powerful shot parried into the path of Leak but the defender blazed over from a tight angle inside the box.

In what was an entertaining stalemate, neither side could make the breakthrough before half-time as they entered the break drawing 0-0.

Apart from one long-range Crawley strike early on, the opening 10 minutes of the second half were very quiet. Neither side were able to keep sustained possession or create many meaningful chances as Walsall just edged it with a number of set pieces.

One of those set pieces almost yielded a goal, too. A short corner saw Miller lay the ball off for Perry on the edge of the box and after delaying his effort and almost overrunning it, the midfielder slid in with his low effort which hit the post and bounced back into the arms of goalkeeper Morris.

Just before the 70th minute, the hosts finally found the opening goal. After substitute Mark Marshall was tackled on the edge of the box, the ball sat up for Hutchinson on the edge of the box and he smashed the ball into the bottom corner with his right boot.

Walsall almost responded when a quick free-kick had substitute Rodney through on goal. He rounded the goalkeeper but saw his low effort cleared off the line by Jake Hessenthaler.

Rodney had another golden chance when a Shade cross found him at the back post but he blazed over from close range.

The Saddlers kept pushing and Jack Earing almost found an equaliser when his wonderful curling effort clipped the top of the crossbar in the 90th minute.

But after four minutes of added time Walsall were unable to find the net as they fell to an Easter Monday defeat.

Teams

Walsall: Rushworth, Menayese, Leak, Monthe, Osadebe, Earing, Perry (White, 58), Labadie, Mills (Shade, 61), Kiernan, Miller (Rodney, 74).

Subs not used: Rose, Daniels, Devine, Shaw.

Crawley: Morris, Tunnicliffe, Francillette, Lynch, Ferry, Hutchinson, Hessenthaler, Tilley (Davies, 75), Matthews (Marshall, 64), Nichols, Nadesan (Craig, 90).

Subs not used: Seymour, Kastrati.