Walsall fell to a narrow defeat with a single late Northampton goal. It was a quality goal to be fair as the league one side came out on top. Despite the Cobblers fielding a strong side they struggled to create much against a second string saddlers team which tested out some academy players.
S&S Steelstock Performance rating – 6/10 but given the inexperienced team Walsall played against a strong mid table League one side, some may suggest that’s harsh.
Man of the Match : Rico Browne proved again what a great talent he is and coped well on both the left and right side of the back three and was the standout player.
Moment that made me smile: Talking with fellow saddlers fan Pete about the performance of Jake Hollman.
Player Ratings
Sam Hornby – 8/10 Very solid performance, kept Walsall in it with some excellent saves.
Priestley Farquarson – 8/10 Don’t recall him putting a foot wrong.
Rico Browne 9/10 my MOTM, very assured on the ball and adaptable. Certainly proved again he is first team ready.
Evan Weir 8/10 Very solid performance. He is getting better every week.
Sam Straw 8/10 A superb showing for the youngster. Seemed to get his head on everything and showed maturity to Shepard balls out.
Jid Okeke 5/10 Played most of the game in the LWB slot and struggled against the quality opposition. Gave several fouls away and looked vulnerable defensively but kept plugging away to his credit. He was much more comfortable going forward and had a superb run late in the game. He’d looked superb against Shrewsbury in his cameo which asked the question about pushing into the first team but last night it proved why Vinny is first choice.
Courtney Clarke 7/10 A solid performance and a good 90 mins.
Ronan Maher 7/10 Only got 25 mins and again as LWB which doesn’t particularly suit his skill set. He competed very well and some of his gravity defying leaps took the attention, but sadly most of his work was deep in his own half as Northampton pressed. He only really had two chances going forward, the first a break down the left where he got his cross in a little too near the keeper and the second in the last couple of mins he made space for a shot which sailed wide of the post.
Brandon Comley 8/10 He is clearly the best CDM we currently have and fulfilled the role well breaking up play. Myself and Pete discussed the Warrington/Comley situation and whilst Comley is the better player, we agreed we’d rather have Comley coming on as a finisher than Warrington.
Ryan Finnigan 6/10 Ryan stepped into the CDM role which I understand is his regular position but with the pressure from Northampton growing his time on the ball was limited and the support of Hollman and Richards was not enough to give him chance.
Jamie Jellis 8/10 Last season, whether it was the EFL gambling investigation or just exhaustion, Jamie’s performances struggled in the second half of the campaign. Last night, as with his cameo on Saturday, Jamie was back to his best. A first half glancing header very nearly found the top corner to cap a superb first half, but his energy, close control and awareness from last season is back.
Rico Richards 5/10 Much has been lauded about Rico and he did show glimpses of great quality but the game largely passed him by. Late in the game he moved up top but was already flagging and wasn’t able to show the best of himself.
Jake Hollman 5/10 Jake is still adjusting to the energy and physicality of the English game. He broke up play a few times and spread the ball about well a couple of times but didn’t impose himself on the game as it passed him by. Combined with Richards and Finnigan we lost control of the midfield. I believe a loan would be the best way to get him up to speed.
McLloyd Oben 6/10 Only got 25 mins, but will have learnt a lot. In a midfield being over run he got caught in possession a couple of times. He was otherwise tidy but the momentum was well against Walsall when he came on. Will develop well with his time at Stourbridge.
Jamille Matt 5/10 Led the line with Albert, but his lack of mobility restricted our attacking options. Jamma is a great presence and it wasn’t the perfect game for him but when he came off the void was huge.
Albert Adomah 7/10 Provided the only outlet and goal threat and on another day could have had a couple of goals but it wasn’t to be his night. I guess the fact that he played 90 mins may tell us that Daniel Kanu will be fit for Saturday. It’s unlikely they would have played Uncs for 90 mins if he was starting on Saturday).
