TILL’S BOYS HAVE THE DESIRE FOR A DOUBLE
MIDLAND League leaders Walsall Wood made impressive progress in the FA Vase with a compelling performance which simply proved too much for unfortunate Lye Town.
Under the recently formed managerial partnership of Peter Till and Kris Taylor, the Wood are gunning for glory in both competitions this term.
Much travelled Till, who can name the likes of Fleetwood, York City and Walsall amongst his previous club only returned to Wood from Alvechurch where he had been assistant manager to Darren Byfield
He confirmed: “Although promotion is the priority this season, I’m greedy because I want to have a good go for both of them.
“I didn’t think we were anywhere near our best in this game but then we knew it wasn’t going to be pretty before hand and we just had to make sure we defended well.”
Wood created the best early opening when Mitch Tolley played a delightful ball to send Joey Butlin racing clear but experienced Lye goalkeeper Paul Evans was alert to the danger and saved bravely at Butlin’s feet after 12 minutes.
Lye created a couple of half chances of their own with Jordan Davies and Emile Fedotovs going close before Wood made the breakthrough right on the half hour mark.
The home side made a complete hash of trying to clear from a Lee Butler corner and the ball fell invitingly for Stuart McNaught to slam home from close range.
Clearly rattled, Lye came close to hitting back almost immediately from a short corner routine where the ball was played to Ryan
Winwood, whose clever cross was headed narrowly wide by central defender Ryan Bridgewater.
It should have been 2-0 on 36 minutes when Butlin exchanges passes to put former Redditch United marksman Connor Deards in the clear but Evans stood his ground to make a great save, much to Lye’s relief.
The Wood started to take control in the second half and pinned Lye back deep
inside their own territory for long periods.
And the pressure eventually told on 65 minutes when speedy substitute Javia Roberts marked his return to the club from Alvechurch by using his abundant pace to get behind the Lye defence and square the ball for Deards to despatch home at the far post.
Lye tried desperately to repair the damage and created a couple of half chances through Jordan Davies and Joe Colley, but there was no way back, even after Wood had Mitch Tolley sent off for dissent in the closing stages.
Despite victory, Till was hard to please afterwards, adding: “We’ve only been in charge for six games, but it’s six out of six. But we still need to improve.”