‘Town and out’ as the Saddlers strike late
WHEN you’re down at the bottom things rarely go your way, and Shrewsbury won’t need reminding of that after this heart-breaking derby defeat.
Having twice clawed their way back from behind, Town had both a goal and penalty taken away by offside flags, then saw Ryan McGivern stupidly sent off and conceded a last-minute winner.
Caretaker boss Danny Coyne, however, insists the secondbottom Shrews cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves.
After seeing McGivern receive a second booking for raising his hands to Walsall striker Amadou Bakayoko, Coyne said: “I have spoken to Ryan about the red card and he has apologised to the lads.
“There was a lack of discipline there. That’s what we need to stop really.
“Sometimes when you are down the bottom things like this happen so you’ve got to take it on the chin and learn.
“When decisions go against you, you’ve got to deal with it, be composed and we can’t do things like that, especially when you are on a yellow card.
“It is devastating to lose like that when the lads have battled after going down to 10 men. We are close to turning the corner but we’ve got to keep our discipline.”
Walsall led on 23 minutes as Bakayoko drilled home his first league goal from Erhun Oztumer’s through-ball, but Town levelled seven minutes later as Oliver Lancashire looped home a header.
The Saddlers were back ahead just before the break as Kieron Morris netted from close range. But Junior Brown pounced on Walsall keeper Neil Etheridge’s error to poke home the second equaliser on 58 minutes.
Town saw an Andy Mangan strike ruled offside and the flag also denied them a penalty after referee Nicholas Kinseley initially pointed to the spot for James O’Connor’s push on George Waring.
McGivern saw red on 65 minutes and Walsall won it at the death as Oztumer’s corner crept in direct at Jayson Leutwiler’s near post.
Bakayoko saw a second yellow for celebrating with the fans but Walsall boss Jon Whitney was still a happy man.
He said: “Sometimes it’s not about winning comfortably and playing great football – sometimes you just have to win ugly.
“It’s three wins now on the bounce and one defeat in seven. I thought we deserved the win. We didn’t go chasing it.”