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Another tough away game with the latest trip to the second in the league being the first time we had met them this year. A rough looking pitch seemed to offer little chance of free flowing football and the late withdrawal of skipper Edwards with key trouble (no that is not a misprint) meant the veteran combination of Dimmack and Preston were selected in an unusual 4-4-2 formation.
The game began with the opposition on top and wasteful possession by the Wulfs led to the first goal after only ten minutes, well finished on the turn by their obvious danger man. The reply was almost instant with Walkden cutting in from the left and curling a delicious right footed shot into the top corner. Further good opportunities were soon created as we began to dominate in midfield and Smith had one cleared off the line as they struggled to deal with the excellent movement of the youthful attack and good foraging runs by full back Hart. Swift, still searching for his first goal of the campaign, put two over the fence and out of the ground. However, the same player's perseverance led to a penalty as he kept the ball in on the by-line only to be felled from behind by a struggling centre back. Patrick despatched the penalty into the bottom left hand corner with aplomb and a deserved was established……briefly.
Only a couple of minutes later their dangerous striker again pulled off the left shoulder of Dix, this time remaining just onside, an finished well to make it 2-2 as half time approached.
The second half was much of the same. We played good football and at times ripped them open only to see us over-complicate at times and make poor decisions when a shot on target was well worth the effort and they continued to try and hit long balls to their bug target man to flick on for the goalscorer who was frequently offside. Another excellent long-range shot from Walkden gave us the deserved lead again and we seemed comfortable as they began to push on and we hit them on the break. Once more some really excellent movers saw us create opportunities spurned by the strikers and midfield players and one excellent tip over the bar from an excellent drive by Patrick.
Sadly, our set piece frailty came back to haunt us in the final five minutes as we failed to deal with second ball on a corner and the unmarked centre back bundled the ball over the line. Even after that one more excellent combination between Harris and Walkden led to the unmarked Swift miscuing from inside the six yard box when it could have been easier to score. A promising half hour from new signing Forrester, and an excellent performance from our two veteran centre backs meant that despite the disappointment that we did not get a deserved away win we played with pace and precision and not without style.
Final score: Walsall Phoenix 3 Old Wulfrunians 3.
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