Harrogate 3 Walsall 0 - Report

And this time it was three goals without reply as Harrogate proved clinical in front of goal where Walsall were again were let down by a non existent cutting edge in the final third.

The relegation threatened Yorkshire men also had a goal disallowed for offside and throughout the game looked the far more dangerous.

It is the second time in recent weeks Walsall have lost away to a relegation threatened side and at the moment, they must be everybody's favourite side to play, at least at home,

Walsall had won just once in 19 league games in 2023 at the start of play and were desperate to rectify that, particularly after a very poor performance at Crewe who were not doing great themselves up until Saturday.

With just four games left, Michael Flynn's side needed to get wins and goals - both had been in short supply in recent months.

And it was never going to be easy at Harrogate,who came from two down on Saturday to draw 2-2 with Doncaster having achieved a similar feat recently against both AFC Wimbledon and Leyton Orient.

They started the game fourth from bottom with only three points between them and Hartlepool in the last relegation place.

The home side made the running from the start kicking down the slope, with top scorer Luke Armstrong chasing a ball from midfield and being forced to the left of Owen Evans, he tried to lift it over the keeper but it went poorly wide

But on 11 minutes Armstrong turned provider when he broke down the right and played it across for Alex Pattison whose shot came off a defender into path of Sam Folarin who scored from close range.

Walsall tried hard to respond and Tom Knowles had a shot blocked on 20 minutes, the ball coming out to Oisin McEntee whose effort also hit a defender. Isaac Hutchinson then had a dangerous cross punched away by goalkeeper Mark Oxley. Knowles then saw a long cross-shot from the left flank dip over the bar,

The home fans thought their side had gone two up on 32 minutes when Armstrong had the ball in the net after picking up a through ball from Kazeem Olaigbe but he was deemed to be offside.

The Saddlers' lack of luck recently was summed up by two chances which could have led to goals in the latter stages of the first half. On 38 minutes, McEntee passed to Jamille Matt who headed the ball into the path of Stevens – he lifted it past Oxley but the ball went agonisingly wide.

Oxley was to deny Walsall in injury time when Brandon Comley headed goalwards from a corner but the goalkeeper made a great point blank stop.

The Saddlers started the second half on the front foot with a series of attacks and Hutchinson saw a shot go into the side netting when the ball came to him from a corner.

But Harrogate weathered the storm and made it 2-0 on 66 minutes when an interchange of passes on the edge of the box eventually came to Olaigbe on the left edge of the box and he smashed it into the top corner of the net, giving Evans no chance at all.

The half didn't contain many chances but the home side had the best of them and always looked more dangerous than Walsall going forward. This was illustrated on 76 minutes when a break from midfield saw substitute Matt Daly feed Pattison who slipped it past Evans to make it 3-0.

Flynn again shuffled the pack with Stevens and Matt taken off and it remains to be seen whether that strike partnership – that has produced just two goals between them – will again be in place next season.

The stark reality is that it is now one win in 20 games and although Walsall are long since past the point where they have anything meaningful to play for, the worry is that if the same squad start next season in their current form, they will be facing a relegation battle

Teams

Walsall (3-4-1-2): Evans, Gordon, Monthe, Riley, Kinsella, Knowles, Comley (Williams 77), Matt (Wilknson 82), Stevens (Maddox 66), McEntee, Hutchinson (Maher 82)

Subs not used: Smith,Low, Songo'o

Harrogate (4-2-3-1) Falkingham, Thomson, Olaigbe (Muldoon 83) Folarin (Daly 61), Sims, O'Connor, Pattison (Burrell 80), Armstrong (Angus 83), Foulds, Eastman

Subs not used: Jameson, Mattock, McArdle,

Attendance: 1,867