00:00Sadler's fans, what a day and what a season it is proving so far in League Two.
00:06Walsall have surged to the top of the League Two table after a 3-1 here in Lancashire today
00:11at Accrington Stanley's Wham! Stadium.
00:15A real memorable afternoon for the pretty much near 700 away Walsall travelling fans in that away
00:22and it was bouncing as those second half goals went in.
00:25What a professional, thoroughly diligent, composed and really professional display from Walsall.
00:34This was never going to be easy today at Accrington.
00:37Not in the position they probably merit in League Two.
00:39They started the day in 18th but they'd come off back-to-back wins.
00:42Really recovered from a tough start to the season.
00:43They hadn't been beaten here yet this season so Walsall had to really go some to continue their winning form.
00:50And go some they did with a 3-1 win as I mentioned.
00:53It's goalless at the break and Walsall have been made to work hard.
00:55It was probably an even first half really.
00:58Walsall maybe started the brighter but then had keeper Miles Roberts to thank really
01:01for two or three good saves before the interval.
01:04And it just underlined and Matt Sadler said it to us at the end there,
01:07just the challenge of coming here and why not too many teams will come and win here this season.
01:11And credit to Walsall.
01:14You know, it wasn't a beautiful, wonderful, free-flowing game full of lovely, lovely skill.
01:19Maybe a bit of a typical League Two affair really against a side that, you know, really roll their sleeves up and battle.
01:23And it's not the most glamorous of settings, is it, with full respect to this ground.
01:28Great place to watch football.
01:29But Walsall were made to work hard for this victory and they did just that.
01:34Matt Sadler said it was no surprise to him that it was a set-piece,
01:38a dead ball situation that broke the deadlock here.
01:41It was just after the hour mark.
01:42And I don't think it was a surprise, even though it was his first goal for the club,
01:46that it was Aidan Flint, the giant centre-half, 6'6", 36-year-old,
01:51nearing 600 career professional appearances with his first Sadler's goal.
01:56Matt Sadler said he should have probably had one or two earlier in the season before today.
02:00But, yeah, he rose to meet Courtney Clark's corner and it was a superb header.
02:05He sort of lofted and planted into the bottom left corner.
02:07And that felt like the key moment, to be honest, for 1-0 just after the hour.
02:11But Walsall didn't rest. Matt Sadler made some really good changes.
02:14Comley and Clark coming on in midfield really sort of sharpened them up, I think,
02:18and took the game away from Accrington.
02:20The first goal went in, as I mentioned, and Aaron Presley, the striker, made it two.
02:23With about 15 minutes left, Daniel Karnou had a sort of lobbed effort
02:29that might have been heading in, but Presley, typical poacher really,
02:32on the goal line to nod it in.
02:34And that looked like that, to be honest.
02:36You know, Accrington did OK. Battled hard, but they looked beaten then.
02:39They did halve the deficit and pull one back on the 90th minute
02:43through Charlie Caton, a decent header.
02:45And you kind of thought, oh, you know, five minutes of stoppage time left.
02:48Where's this going?
02:49Walsall don't want to see all their hard work unravel now.
02:52But they didn't.
02:54And it was that man again, that super sub, that 37-year-old unks, as he is known.
02:59And we've seen all the repertoire of celebrations, haven't we, with the Zimmer frame,
03:03the walking stick.
03:04I think we think we saw the mobility scooter today, as deep into stoppage time.
03:08He raced clear, and he did race clear, as Aki were pushing,
03:12and lobbed a fine lifted finish over Oscar, writing him for the third goal.
03:17You know, it was wonderful scenes.
03:18Down the wrong end, sadly, in front of the home fans, but a real great moment for those
03:22Sadlers fans, 700 of them up the other end.
03:25And what on a way, it feels to me, you know, it's very early.
03:28It's much earlier than Walsall went top last season, actually, in early December.
03:32But it's the kind of sort of low-key victory, really.
03:36And yes, they've gone top, but a low-key, low-profile victory at a, you know, as I say,
03:40an unglamorous place that kind of is what separates successful teams from those that,
03:45you know, maybe come here and drop points and draw or come unstuck here.
03:49So Matt Sadler will be delighted with the sort of effort, work ethic, work rate that
03:55that took to really dig in, fight, compete, second balls, and win here.
04:01A superb effort.
04:02And yeah, happy day, Sadlers.
04:04Top of League 2.
04:05What a weekend, what a day, and what a start to the season.
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