Darrell Clarke bemoans poor decision-making from Walsall - 7M sport

Darrell Clarke bemoans poor decision-making from Walsall



Posted Sunday, September 20, 2020 by PA

Darrell Clarke bemoans poor decision-making from Walsall

Darrell Clarke bemoaned Walsall’s decision-making in the 2-2 draw against Harrogate but is confident his side will be challenging come the end of the season.

Josh Gordon’s late goal ensured the Saddlers equalled their longest unbeaten league run for seven years and denied Sky Bet League Two new-boys Harrogate a second successive win.

The hosts, currently ground-sharing with Doncaster while their artificial pitch is replaced by grass, led at half-time after Aaron Martin and Jack Muldoon goals cancelled out an early Rory Holden effort.

But Gordon followed up to score after his 81st-minute penalty was saved by Joe Cracknell to snatch a point.

Clarke, whose side finished the game with 10 men following a second yellow card for midfielder Danny Guthrie, expects his side to be competitive in 2020/21, saying: “The division is so competitive this season and I believe that, on our day, we are unplayable.

“We have shown that in glimpses so far and we’ve got to keep working hard because I was very disappointed with our first-half performance.

“We got off to a good start with a set-piece that we have been working on and it worked a treat but, after that, our decision-making wasn’t the best and we didn’t have enough players showing for the ball.

“We also got bullied a bit defensively and one or two players weren’t having their best games on the ball. But, in the second half, we responded well and I thought there was only one team going to win the game.”

Walsall went ahead in the fourth minute when Alfie Bates sent in a low corner from the right and, from 20 yards, Holden drilled a firm shot into Cracknell’s bottom-right corner.

At the other end, Martin headed against the crossbar but the former Guiseley forward eventually earned a reward for his persistence in the 32nd minute when he bundled the ball over the line from two yards after an excellent right-wing raid and low cross by Ryan Fallowfield.

Harrogate then grabbed the lead in the 42nd minute when Muldoon prodded home from five yards after Mark Beck’s far-post downward header from Connor Hall’s left-wing free-kick.

Just past the hour, Elijah Adebayo burst through on goal after a Josh Falkingham blunder but, having rounded Cracknell, the former Fulham forward could only hit the outside of an upright.

But Walsall continued to press and that pressure told in the 81st minute when Hall dragged down Holden in the box and, even though Gordon’s weak penalty was saved by Cracknell down to his right, the forward recovered to find the net from eight yards.

Clarke’s men then had to weather a late storm after Guthrie, cautioned earlier for a crunching tackle on Muldoon, was sent-off for a second bookable offence after a foolish 86th-minute challenge on Lloyd Kerry.

A stinging Fallowfield drive subsequently called Liam Roberts into his best save of the contest in stoppage time.

Having reached the second round of the Carabao Cup it has been a busy start to the season, which boss Simon Weaver admitted perhaps counted against his side in the second half.

He said: “We ran out of steam a little bit and that’s probably down to the events of the past week with our game at West Brom in the cup. That probably took the edge off our game in the second half when we looked short on adrenaline, but I’ll take a point because they came at us strong in the second half.”

Weaver also had few complaints about the penalty decision, adding: “It looked like a foul and that’s going to be part of the learning curve for us, but I’ll take four points from the first two games and there have been more positives than negatives from both matches.”

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