Walsall were involved in another exciting finish in their latest Regional Two North game. Less than ten minutes was left to play as they found themselves trailing by nine points to their North Staffordshire rivals. But two tries and a conversion during the final eight minutes secured them a maximum points victory which sees them maintain their third place in the league.
The hosts applied the early pressure which resulted in outside half Andy Marsh putting over a well struck forty yards penalty. The visitors, however, were soon on the attack and levelled the scores with a Ben Pitt thirty-five yards penalty kick. Almost immediately after this score Walsall looked to make another breakthrough. But a wayward pass was intercepted and to the delight of the home support, they raced away for over seventy yards with centre Jacob Bailey getting the final touchdown with Marsh adding the conversion. Walsall were also penalised for a lack of discipline at the restart and Marsh added another three points from the halfway. The final minutes of the half saw the visitors take far more control of the game. They put together some good ball carries which resulted in a scrum deep in opposition territory. A strong drive was followed by a well-timed pick up by Rhys Jones. The Walsall No 8, once again, showed great strength as he broke through a tackle for a try. However, there was a quick response from the hosts with Marsh adding another forty yards penalty. Walsall started the second half well as they made good ground with some good drives, with the ball being recycled quickly. Once again it was No8 Jones that made the final drive over the line for the touchdown with Pitt adding the conversion. The game moved into the final quarter as the hosts extended their lead after a drive from a lineout saw prop forward Carl Williams securing the touchdown. The hosts, then seemed to have strengthened their position as Marsh increased their lead with a well struck drop goal. But it was the visitors that produced the match winning performance during the final minutes. Good lineout possession was quickly transferred to the Walsall three quarters. Three well timed passes saw the ball reach Max Brown on the right wing. He was soon on a speedy, defence breaking twenty-five yard try scoring run. Just two minutes was left to play as the Walsall team launched an attack which showed good passing and ball retention that eventually saw full back Toby Smith collect the kick ahead and score the try near the corner flag. Ben Pitt added the conversion and then put the ball out of play one minute later to bring the game to an end.