Walsall headed to Stevenage in the Virtu Trophy last 32, in a game which felt like it was more an exercise to get mins into fringe players but turned into a step into the more interesting part of the Virtu Trophy as the prize money steps up and dreams of another Wembley appearance start to appear.
Stevenage riding high in League one seemed to be a step too far for the fringe players of Walsall. The watchalong provided a backdrop to chat about other stuff if it went bad ways but it grew into much more.
Rather than losing heart with Stevenage constantly probing, Walsall stayed on point and kept their shape incredibly well. When Stevenage got the breakthrough, many would have thought it would lead to a collapse, but Walsall are made of sterner stuff and went up a gear.
In previous appearances Rico Richards hadn’t seemed interested, but the Port Vale loanee had a renewed spirit and grew into the game with some clever touches, but the most surprising performance was the cameo from Jake Hollman. Jake Hollman has not been near the first team for a while and the experiment to bring him from Australia seemed to have failed. If this cameo is anything to go by, Jake Hollman is going to be stepping closer to a first team start. His fight and energy had been ignited and his quick thinking to dart after Adomah’s dummy, gave him sight of goal but with great awareness he pinpointed a pass to Rico Richards who didn’t have to break stride to finish with ease.
The calamity that led to the Walsall winner was very embarrassing for Stevenage but showed the commitment of Jid Okeke and awareness of Rico Richards in great effect as the later grabbed the winner.
S&S Steelstock Performance – 8/10 thinks about a quiet first half but gives credit to sticking to a difficult task
Man of the Match – Stan Straw with his first start for the first team, showed such maturity for a 17 yr old playing against seasoned League One professionals. I recall one slight error in an otherwise faultless performance which the Priest or Aden Flint would have been proud of. I call on Ben Sadler to make sure he is tied down to a lengthy contract.
Moment that made me smile – You shouldn’t take pleasure in the misfortune of other but the lack of communication between the Stevenage keeper and his defenders was a comedy of errors that surely brought a smile to every non Stevenage viewer.
