Walsall 4-1 Exeter City 

14th January 1984

Harrower's dream start, then disaster

BLUNDERS END CITY CHANCES

A COUPLE of first half errors by goalkeeper Len Bond and striker Ray Pratt had a remarkable effect on the outcome of this game at Fellows Park on Saturday.

The first mistake came in the 20th minute when Pratt was clean through but he contrived to lobb the ball over the bar from inside the penalty box and the second occurred four minutes before the interval, when Bond failed to hold on to a header by Richard O'Kelly and Ally Brown pounced on the gift to put Walsall level.

The Pratt failure came at a time when Walsall were struggling to find some rhythm after falling behind to a shock 40-second goal by former Dawlish player Steve Harrower his first league goal.

He dashed in between Colin Brazier and David Preece and while the Walsall players hesitated, scored with a rising drive. Success by Pratt would have placed Exeter two up and would have put a tremendous amount of pressure on Walsall. It is doubtful whether even the promotion candidates could have recovered from the double blow. As it was they were given a lifeline by Bond's mistake and Walsall's confidence literally flowd after Brazier had scored the second goal in the 47th minute.

The third goal came in the 68th minute, scored by O'Kelly, from a characteristic Walsall breakout while the final goal in the 81st minute came from Craig Shakespeare who drew a free-kick round the defensive wall to beat Bond. The scoreline suggests Exeter suffered a comprehensive defeat but that would be a harsh judgment on a side who defended well for sustained spells and, when they moved forward, produced plenty of imaginative football.

Peter Rogers finished off a move with Pratt, Stan McEwan and Steve Neville to crash a drive against the woodwork which preceded the third goal. Then just before the final goal, Rogers was again thwarted, this time by goalkeeper Ron Green when Rogers' shot looked in all the way. Having made the indictments, there were quite a number of cameos that produced sporting appreciation from the Walsall fans.

They were certainly spontaneous in their applause of Bond's brilliant one-handed save to palm away a shot from Shakespeare and his confidence when coming out to cut out the crosses. It is therefore a tragedy that his all-round performance should be marred by one mistake because he could certainly not be blamed for the other goals. In front of Bond, Simon Webster made a welcome return for another loan period and with Graeme Kirkup and Hugh Atkinson flanking him plus support by Mark O'Connor, the defence looked resolute enough to withstand the numerous attacks particularly during the first half. If the home side were adept on the counter, Exeter too caused a few anxious moments in the Walsall defence. McEwan and O'Connor often hit deep passes for Pratt to run at the defence or switch the attack with accurate passes to Neville and young Martin Ling on the wings.

Too often, however, the moves broke down in the heavy going or the final pass was delayed which enabled Walsall to recover and clear.

The substitution of Frank Howarth for Ling in the 73rd minute made no significant difference because by that time Walsall had made sure they were giving nothing more away. The victory enabled Walsall to complete a double but their player-manager Alan Buckley paid Exeter a tribute when he said: "They have had their misfortunes but they made us work hard for our victory.

"I can see Gerry Francis developing a sound side but like all of us he needs a bit of cash to build or, like me, be lucky to find a few good ones who come without a transfer fee."

Exeter City: Bond, Kirkup, Webster, McEwan, Atkinson, O'Connor, Rogers, Ling, Neville, Pratt, Harrower; Sub Howarth (on for Ling).

Attendance: 5,028.