Walsall pay the price as they slip into drop zone
Walsall were left to rue a number of missed opportunities as they slipped to defeat at home to Spartans and into the Midlands 2 West (North) relegation zone.
A fourth league reverse of the season should have really been avoided as the hosts were guilty of squandering several try-scoring openings.
After falling behind to an early converted try, Walsall hit back with fly-half Will Hennessey outpacing the visiting defence to score.
Roger Weston added the conversion and then a penalty to put Walsall 10-7 up.
But the away side rallied and bagged two converted tries to lead 21-10 at the break.
The second half brought an improvement from the hosts and it was captain Weston who got his team back in the game. He rounded off a flowing attack by touching down before adding the extras.
Weston was back in action immediately from the restart, taking the high ball before breaking through the first line of defence and sending back row Dave Merlin away for a try. Weston’s conversion gave his side a 24-21 lead.
The hosts had further try-scoring opportunities, but were guilty of losing possession or failing to deliver the vital pass.
And they were made to pay late on when Spartans nicked the points with a converted try.
Stafford let a promising position slip as they tasted defeat at Veseyans.
An impressive first-half display had earned the visitors a 21-12 lead thanks to two tries from Callum Hoy and one from Christian Stelian, who also added three conversions.
The hosts responded with an early second-half try only for Hoy to power over for his hat-trick with Stelian adding the extras to make it 28-17.
But Veseyans rallied and after Stafford were temporarily reduced to 14 they bagged a converted try.
The home side continued to pile the pressure on and were rewarded with a penalty try to nick the win.
Wolverhampton climbed up to sixth in the table ater beating Leek 31-23 at home.
