CLARKE CRACKER STUNS SCUNNY
JAMES Clarke helped Walsall to their first win of the season with a brilliant bicycle-kick to leave struggling Scunthorpe still without a point on their travels.
Centre-back Clarke acrobatically volleyed home Danny Guthrie’s 65th-minute cross from six yards to hand Scunthorpe a fifth successive away league defeat under Paul Hurst.
But boss Darrell Clarke says his Walsall side must put sides to the sword to save his health.
Back-to-back wins have moved Walsall clear of danger but after scoring just five times in their first 10 league games, manager Clarke wants more from his attackers.
He said: “Everybody says 1-0 is the perfect scoreline – not for me, not for your heart, not for managers. We want to be making more of our opportunities in the final third.
“It’s a platform but we know we can’t go through the whole course of the season with one goal winning us a game. That’s a dangerous game to play and I don’t set up my teams like that.
“We are nowhere near where I want us to get but it takes a bit of time and we have to try to win games along the way.
“It was a great match-winning moment from James and I thought we deserved the win, just edged a tight game against a team which will improve through the season.
“We are getting the basics right but we’ve got to get better with our forward play. You want to be trying to put teams to the sword when you are getting in very good positions.”
Scunthorpe controlled a drab, goalless first half but Walsall came closest to breaking the deadlock, Caolan Lavery curling inches wide from the edge of the box after cutting in from the right.
The second half was better with Rory Gaffney heading a Danny Guthrie free-kick wide for Walsall before Kevin van Veen’s curler brought a save from Saddlers keeper Liam Roberts at the other end.
Once Clarke volleyed them in front, Walsall saw out the game comfortably, their only scare coming after 75 minutes when Ryan Colclough drilled just wide.
The victory was Walsall’s third of the season – all coming via a 1-0 scoreline – as they kept a third clean sheet in four games, lifting them to 16th while Scunthorpe stay 23rd and boss Paul Hurst groaned: “The game was there for us to win, but we didn’t do enough to push the tempo.
“It looked two tired teams who were playing their third games in quick succession on a warm day and that’s not excuses, that’s just what I saw from both teams.
“I felt we put enough balls in there but I haven’t seen us get on the end of one. We’ve got to try to get a mentality into the players to really want to score a goal.
“I’m sure defensively Darrell will be saying ‘well played’ but from our point of view we’ve got to try to make something happen. Rory Watson hardly had a save to make.”