Lots of guts but no glory

LEE Croft was sent off after only 16 minutes

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JOHN Brooks, who had a mixed afternoon's work as Athletic's discipline took a surprising turn for the worst, was the assistant referee four years ago who told Manchester City's players to thank their fans at the end of a game they paid £62 to watch.

In charge of a contest here with less eye-watering sums passing into the hands of Walsall's turnstile operators, 26-year-old Brooks might privately reflect that another apology is owed.

Two red cards, one missed flailing arm in the face of Paul Green and a feeling that he had left the travelling fans short-changed were the legacy of the Melton Mowbray man's afternoon.

There was no question over the decision to send off Lee Croft. The midfielder, brought back from the cold as one of boss John Sheridan's promised surprise picks, seemed incredulous himself that he could commit such un ugly challenge on Jason McCarthy in the 16th minute.

Brooks was right to go to his back pocket and proffer the first of two red cards Sheridan's side would suffer on a day to quickly put down to experience.

Croft may have lost his footing near the home dug-out. But a still image of the tackle showed it was high up the shin and reckless; a potential leg-breaker. It was needless and a very surprising moment of poor judgement from such an experienced player.

SPREAD

It put the onus on Croft's team-mates to spread his work between them if they were to get anything from a game against a side buzzing at the Banks's Stadium previously, with four straight wins.

Athletic were on the back of their own five-match run without defeat and were not prepared to give an inch.

Connor Ripley had to produce his standard, stand-out goalkeeping display, stopping brilliantly from Kieron Morris in the first half, but after weathering an initial storm after the half-time break Sheridan's short-handed team appeared the more likely winners.

That is, until the 78th minute. As Aaron Amadi-Holloway jostled with his marker James O'Connor, the Saddlers defender took a hold of enough shirt that he could peer in and take a look at the washing instructions.

Brooks missed the wardrobe malfunction, as did his closest assistant with the flag - despite having a clear view. What was obvious in the stands proved mysterious to the officials and as Walsall charged down the other end, Peter Clarke stretched out a leg and Simeon Jackson accepted the invitation to go to ground. Sheridan later said replays indicated Clarke had touched the ball.

HEROICS

Ripley couldn't manage a reprise of the heroics that twice denied Millwall's Lee Gregory. He took a step to his right, inviting impish ex-Peterborough playmaker Simeon Jackson to dare go that side. He did, as Ripley went the other way. The mind games didn't work on this occasion.

Athletic - despite being in the supremacy for much of the game after a half-time talking-to - were left playing catch-up with 11 minutes of regulation time left.

Tope Obadeyi, who really came to the fore with driving runs to assist Athletic counter-attacks in the second half, had earlier hit a post with a free-kick that had Neil Etheridge standing, half-admiring and more hoping the ball would not find the net.

But frustration grew and even Brian Wilson saw his hackles raised as he tangled off the ball with Amadou Bakayoko in the 82nd minute. Brooks showed him a second yellow card - the first was a correct call, bringing down his man in the first half after he had run past him and towards the line.

Bakayoko had the final word, with a finish in the second minute of added time as well-struck as his goal in the earlier meeting between the clubs in the Checkatrade Trophy.

A two-goal margin was certainly harsh on Athletic, who ended the game still piling forward even with only nine players on the field.

As he did when Anthony Gerrard was sent off at Chesterfield, Sheridan kept two players up front even when a man down and that meant a real shift for a three-man midfield as the hosts spread the ball from side to side, using their wing-backs to try to stretch play and create holes.

The visitors plugged the middle of the field to decent effect. Wilson, who started out as a holding midfielder in the absence of the ill Ollie Banks, reverted to right-back and it left Green, Aiden O'Neill and Ryan McLaughlin doing the donkey work in the middle third.

The Saddlers probed for an opening, but the first true save was from Etheridge, as he kept out a well-struck 25-yard Wilson drive, while before that Amadi-Holloway might have done better than fail to connect with a Ryan McLaughlin cross only three minutes in.

Athletic were holding out but almost conceded eight minutes before half-time. Erhun Oztumer skipped past Gerrard with ease and pulled back for Morris, whose first-time drive was saved low down by in-form Ripley.

Oztumer shot wide when well-placed to do better four minutes after the interval, but while Brooks attracted the ire of Sheridan - "How has he missed that?" was the audible cry when Osbourne caught Green with a flailing arm, the midfielder needing treatment - the well-organised visitors clawed their way into the game to establish some control.

In the 56th minute, a free-kick from the right and 25 yards from goal was teed up for Obadeyi to strike and the ball flicked the far upright on its way out of play.

Soon after, Green almost nipped in before Eoghan O'Connell to meet Amadi-Holloway's cross when any touch would have resulted in a goal.

Ripley had to spread himself to block from Jackson, but there was little sense that Walsall were building momentum leading up to the crucial penalty decision.

At 1-0 down, already-booked Wilson got involved in a shoving match with Bakayoko and was shown a second yellow with eight minutes of normal time left.

There was no coming back from that. Still, Sheridan's men again showed some aptitude in dealing with adverse situations - even if some were of their own doing.

IN A NUTSHELL: Athletic battled hard, but were ultimately found wanting.