George Bennett gives his verdict after Walsall were beaten yet again - leaving their automatic promotion hopes hanging by a threat.
After results at lunchtime, the Saddlers knew a victory over Accrington Stanley would mean they headed into the last day of the season with their fate in their own hands.
However, they fell behind against Stanley and after Connor Barrett was sent off minutes after coming off the bench, they fell to another damaging defeat.
After results at lunchtime, the Saddlers knew a victory over Accrington Stanley would mean they headed into the last day of the season with their fate in their own hands.
However, they fell behind against Stanley and after Connor Barrett was sent off minutes after coming off the bench, they fell to another damaging defeat.
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00:00Good evening Sadler's fans, I'm at the Bescott where Walsall have just fallen to a costly 1-0 defeat against Accrington Stanley.
00:09The Stars had aligned for Walsall in the early kick-offs with Doncaster Rovers beating Bradford City to confirm their own promotion to League One,
00:19as did Port Vale with a 2-0 win over AFC Wimbledon.
00:22But that meant that Walsall were just a single point behind Bradford City and would have climbed into that final automatic promotion spot ahead of the final day with just a point.
00:35And obviously maximum points would have created a two-point buffer.
00:39But instead, we've seen that winless run now stretch to 13 games.
00:43It's just two wins in their last 20 games.
00:48Ben Woods scored the only goal of the contest.
00:51Walsall left him completely unattended.
00:54A long throw which they could only partially clear.
00:57It was actually Woods' throw himself and Ben Woods sent a stunning volley into the far top corner.
01:03Walsall had started, wowed it, the post twice inside the opening 15 minutes.
01:08Taylor Allen bending a corner onto the inside of the far post before Albert Odomes did another effort onto the upright.
01:17George Hall, who was a live wire in the first half, planted ahead of wide.
01:22Alfie Chang had a couple of efforts.
01:24But actually, Accrington probably had the better chances in that second half.
01:28Devin Matthews fired a fierce volley wide.
01:32And then it was Coyle who sent a superb curling effort towards the far top corner.
01:38And Tommy Simpkin produced an excellent fingertip save.
01:42But at the final whistle, a lot of anger, a lot of frustration.
01:45You know, Walsall's visible slump during the second half of the season.
01:50Even strong calls out for Matt Sadler out.
01:53So, yeah, a disappointing afternoon here.
01:56Walsall still can mathematically do the job.
01:58But this feels like a major, major blow.