Walsall vs Fleetwood Town. The FA Cup First Round.
Poundland Bescot StadiumAttendance2,532.
Saturday 7 November 2015 18:07, UK
Goals form George Evans and substitute Anthony Forde eased Walsall past struggling Fleetwood with a 2-0 FA Cup win at the Banks's Stadium
But it was not as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, because the Cod Army dominated the second half and came close to equalizing several times before Forde hit the second for the Saddlers in stoppage time.
Fleetwood were first to threaten when Puskas Award nominee David Ball crossed into the box but Paul Downing managed to clear, and as the Saddlers hit back Nathan Pound did well to block a shot from Milan Lalkovic.
But Walsall took the lead in the 19th minute when, after good work by Lalkovic and Romaine Sawyers, midfielder Evans, on loan from Manchester City, notched his third goal since joining the club with a fierce low drive from 25 yards.
With Jimmy Ryan outstanding in midfield, Fleetwood kept pushing forward but home keeper Neil Etheridge smothered a drive from Conor McLaughlin, then the same player whipped a cross into the box but no-one could finish it off.
In the second half Fleetwood were unlucky not to equalize several times, Jamile Matt shooting inches wide on 83 minutes and Evans clearing off the line from Antoni Sercevic, but Forde made sure for Walsall with a blistering cross-shot after cutting in from the left.
