Jeers to cheers as Latics clinch vital victory

RUNNING BATTLE . . . Athletic’s on-loan striker Jason Price and Walsall’s Jamie Vincent scrap it out for possession.

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Athletic 1, Walsall 0

Abbott to the rescue after Penney heckled by home fans

FAN frustration turned to joy as Athletic picked up three points which could turn out to be so vital.

The all-important goal was scored by – who else? – Pawel Abbott, heading home his ninth of the campaign from a pinpoint cross by Chris Taylor.

For manager Dave Penney, it will have provided plenty of relief.

There was no question the victory was deserved, as Athletic thoroughly outplayed a dismal Walsall side from start to finish at Boundary Park.

Only a glancing header from visiting captain Dwayne Mattis, which took a coat of paint off Dean Brill’s far post after four minutes, provided a moment of danger for the home team.

But until Abbott’s 78th-minute strike, this game had appeared to be heading for a goalless draw, much to the chagrin of the home fans in a crowd of 3,968 who have been starved of scoring action all season.

And when Penney brought off the industrious midfielder Dean Furman in favour of the more attack-minded Danny Whitaker nine minutes before the winning strike, more than a few spleens were vented.

“You don’t know what you’re doing” came the loud cries from the stands, aimed in Penney’s direction.

But the feelings which prompted such a reaction all but vanished in the moment Abbott stole into the area to plant his header past stranded Walsall goalkeeper Clayton Ince.

How quickly things can change in football.

Athletic saw evidence of that in midweek, dominating against Swindon before finding themselves three goals down in a dizzying four-minute spell.

Here though, defensive solidity was once again the name of the game and, building from a firm base, returning winger Chris Taylor began to show the sort of form Athletic fans have been so hungry for.

Overall this was a controlled and assured, albeit unspectacular, win which bodes well for the difficult challenges to come.

The opening to the game wasn’t too auspicious from an Athletic point of view.

First Dean Brill had to be alert to charge out and clear as striker Alex Nicholls tried to get on the end of Troy Deeney’s lobbed pass before Mattis went so close to opening the scoring.

Gradually, though, Athletic began to impose themselves on the contest.

Taylor almost opened the scoring on eight minutes, rising to meet a Dale Stephens corner powerfully, only to see Jason Price, in an offside position in any case, head badly over from a couple of yards out.

Abbott had a half-shout for a penalty after a strong Clayton McDonald challenge and the big centre-half nipped in ahead of Athletic’s talisman to clear the danger soon after.

Abbott then came so close to finding the net, with his instinctive point-blank effort from inside the six-yard box smothered by Ince after a clever shimmy from Stephens created a crossing position.

The central midfielder, showing once again what a gem he is, drove a superb pass from deep to find Abbott as Athletic again threatened and his touch found strike partner Price, who struck a shot powerfully but straight at Ince.

Half-time came and five minutes after the resumption of play, Furman hit a rising half-volley from the edge of the area from Price’s knock-down which, had it been directed either side of Ince, would have handed Athletic the lead.

Walsall reorganised with Julian Gray coming on for Netan Sansara, and Matt Richards moving to left-back.

Walsall had a shout for a penalty as Reuben Hazell tussled in the area while challenging for a cross with Deeney before ex-Athletic man Darren Byfield entered the fray in Nicholls’ place.

Deane Smalley went close shortly after the hour, climbing well at the back post to head Joe Jacobson’s cross back across the face of goal with nobody available to steer the ball home.

And Smalley was in the action a minute later when he may have done better than head Stephens’ corner straight up in the air from close to goal.

Then came the unpopular substitution of Furman, which was followed by Stephens stinging Ince’s fingertips as Athletic continued to dominate.

The goal arrived soon after. After Stephens swept the ball to Taylor on the left, he cut back and delicately provided Abbott with a chance he wasn’t about to miss.

Byfield – who had a strange spat with Jim Goodwin at the end for which he was booked – fired a shot well wide before Brill so nearly had a moment of calamity five minutes from the end of normal time.

Collecting a back pass from Sean Gregan, the goalkeeper’s clearance was charged down by Deeney and as the ball fell to Byfield, Brill jumped in to clear with his feet.

On another day, he could possibly have seen red – but this was Athletic’s afternoon and the ‘offence’ went unpunished.

Players gaining belief, claims boss

ATHLETIC manager Dave Penney cut a happy figure after securing a second win in eight days against Walsall.

The home team were much the better side against a disappointing Saddlers outfit and secured three important League One points thanks to Pawel Abbott’s second-half header.

As well as putting the midweek 4-2 loss at Swindon firmly behind them, the result set Athletic up ahead of a tough run of matches.

“The two really big games for us were the Saturday games away against Tranmere and here against Walsall,” said Penney.

“We needed to make sure we got three points here. It was hard-fought but I felt we were the better side and thoroughly deserved to win.

“We took some getting going and that was down to us going down 4-2 in midweek and them winning 1-0 (at Bristol Rovers).

“But we got into our stride. We hit the target more than we have been doing and though we tended to hit shots straight at the goalkeeper, at least he had to save them.

“The result was the be-all and end-all today and the performance was a bonus.”

Taylor in particular looked a lot livelier than in recent times on his return to the starting line-up and Penney put that down to the winger regaining some much-needed match fitness.

“The key was that our full-backs saw a lot of the ball,” Penney added. “That enabled us to get our wide men into the game and Chris Taylor was excellent.

“He is getting back to form now as he gets back to fitness and was the main threat from the wide areas.

“He had a good hour in the reserves on Wednesday and that stood him in good stead for the game.”

Before the winning goal went in, Penney was on the end of criticism from the home crowd, who chanted ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ when he elected to take off the hard-working Dean Furman, with Danny Whitaker coming on with just over 20 minutes left.

But the Athletic boss was forthright in his views on the fans’ show of frustration.

“The crowd liked it, didn’t they?” joked Penney. “I don’t give a monkey’s. We needed a goal and Danny Whits is going to get us a goal from midfield.

“The midfield two had done great and I said to Dean (Furman) that it wasn’t a sleight on his performance.”

An away date with fourth-placed Colchester United lies in wait for Athletic on Saturday and that is followed by a midweek date at Leeds and a home game against Norwich.

Penney is glad his side enter such a tricky period with a high degree of belief behind them.

“Winning games breeds confidence but we were never on a downer as performances haven’t been that bad,” the Athletic boss said.

“We haven’t been dissatisfied with any performances this year. Everybody was poor in the home game with Tranmere, but at Hartlepool late on we did alright and footballing-wise there hasn’t been much wrong. Results are starting to come now.”