Walsall 2 Crewe 0 - Report
Goals from Freddie Draper and Oisin McEntee guided Walsall to a 2-0 victory over Crewe Alexandra, as they defeated the Railwaymen for the first time in over a decade.
Ryan Stirk's corner was perfectly delivered for Draper to score in successive games with a bullet header in the 33rd minute.
Stirk was also the provider for the second as McEntee notched his sixth goal of the campaign across all competitions.
The Saddlers returned to winning ways following Saturday's defeat at Accrington Stanley, and collected a third win in four matches in League Two.
Meanwhile, Crewe suffered a second straight league defeat, and extended their winless run to six matches.
Both teams wrestled for the early dominance, which made for a tetchy start, although Walsall eventually grew into the contest.
David Okagbue was supposedly forced to drop out of the squad due to the knock he received at Accrington, which culminated in the defender sporting a head bandage.
McEntee slotted into the back-three alongside Priestley Farquharson and Donervon Daniels, whilst Isaac Hutchinson was restored to the starting XI.
There was a fear that Walsall would miss McEntee's engine in the heart of midfield, but Hutchinson produced an impressive display as one of the two eights alongside Ryan Stirk.
Brandon Comley sat in the number six slot once again, and Jamille Matt was handed his second successive league start as he partnered Draper.
Hutchinson had two big chances to open the scoring inside the opening half-hour. First, Liam Gordon teased a delivery to the back post, which Jamille Matt cushioned into the danger area. Hutchinson took a swing at the ball but Crewe skipper Mickey Demetriou stuck out a vital leg to divert the ball behind.
The attacking midfielder then crashed a thunderous effort from range against the woodwork, whilst Brandon Comley saw his low shot deflect wide, as Walsall continued to build on a positive start.
They reaped the reward moments later when Draper opened the scoring on 33 minutes to reach double figures for the campaign.
Stirk delivered a pinpoint corner to the near post and Draper escaped his marker to bury a darting header beyond Crewe goalkeeper Tom Booth.
Walsall kept up an intense high press and Crewe struggled to create with Aaron Rowe coming closest when he screwed wide an effort from distance.
Crewe offered more of an attacking threat immediately after the break and had two chances to equalise.
Ryan Cooney sliced a spinning volley towards the near post and Smith plunged to his left to deny him, before Courtney Baker-Richardson headed Demetriou's cross wide from point-blank range.
But McEntee doubled Walsall's advantage just past the hour-mark to help settle the nerves inside Bescot.
Hutchinson had his third chance of the afternoon when Stirk released him with a beautiful floated pass. He plucked the ball from out of the air and sat down Lewis Billington with a drop of the shoulder, before drawing near post save from Booth.
Stirk delivered the resulting corner into the danger area and collected his second assist when McEntee climbed amongst a sea of Crewe bodies to glance his header into the left hand corner.
A couple of stoppages sucked the life out of any potential Crewe comeback, and Walsall maintained organisation and discipline to avoid a repeat of the reverse fixture at Gresty Road.
Walsall gave up a two-goal lead back in September, but Crewe never looked as if they were capable of repeating that feat despite the introduction of Chris Long following a two-month absence.
Rio Adebisi curled a strike from speculative range over the crossbar, and Walsall even had a chance to further extend their advantage when Stirk dragged wide from the edge of the box.
There was a concern at the end of the contest when Sadler was forced to withdraw McEntee, who hobbled off in the closing stages.
And Jack Earing even almost marked his cameo from the bench with a third. Draper muscled his way inside from the left and the midfielder stung the palms of Booth with a powerful low shot from 15 yards.
The Saddlers sit 16th in the table - 13 points clear of the bottom-two and six points adrift of the play-offs. They will host League Two high-flyers Wrexham at the Bescot in just three days time.
Walsall (3-4-1-2): Smith; McEntee (Williams 84), Farquharson, Daniels; Knowles, Comley, Stirk, Gordon; Hutchinson; Draper, Matt (Earing 80).
Subs: Evans, Foulkes, Maher, Allen, Johnson.
Crewe (3-5-2): Booth; O'Riordan, Demetriou, Williams; Cooney, White (Agius 90 +1), Adebisi, Rowe, Billington (Long 65); Tracey, Baker-Richardson.
Subs: Davies, Kempster-Dunn, Nolan, Allport, Sant.
Referee: Scott Jackson
Attendance: 5,672
