League

Walsall Park
Spectators: 6730 (Terracing: 5002, Seating: 1728, VIP seats: 0) Lance Orchard showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Calvin Wakefield in the 4th minute of the match. In the 10th minute, Calvin Wakefield got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. 12 minutes into the game, Calvin Wakefield cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Lance Orchard was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 19th match minute, Manchester City was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kieran Richardson to maneuver through the defense. Lance Orchard made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Stew Osborn in the 22nd minute of play. In the 26th minute Stew Osborn shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lance Orchard saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 30th minute, Calvin Wakefield ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Lance Orchard was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. Stew Osborn received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 40th minute. Lance Orchard tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After a defensive mix-up in Walsall's zone, Calvin Wakefield stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Lance Orchard came out of the goal and Calvin Wakefield tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Walsall's Lance Orchard played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Calvin Wakefield in the 45th minute of play. Stew Osborn fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 47th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Lance Orchard having to interfere.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Calvin Wakefield stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. After 53 played minutes Walsall got a freekick which was hit by Frankie Fleetwood. Stuart Welsh got his second yellow card in the match during the 62nd minute which meant that he had to leave the ground. After 63 played minutes Walsall got a freekick which was hit by Stuart Welsh. After 64 minutes of play, Manchester City's Stew Osborn made it 0-3 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Lance Orchard was left in no man's land by his defense there! Lance Orchard stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Calvin Wakefield's shot from short distance in the 67th minute. Lance Orchard showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Calvin Wakefield, who was totally free with the ball in the 69th minute. Calvin Wakefield received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 70th minute. Lance Orchard tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After having played for 72 minutes, Stew Osborn managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Manchester City's supporters crossed their fingers, but Stew Osborn was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. With a little luck, Walsall's Lance Orchard got control of the ball when Stew Osborn tried to sneak it across the goal line. Calvin Wakefield received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 82nd minute. Lance Orchard tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 85th minute Bruce Batty shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Lance Orchard saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Walsall's Lance Orchard played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Calvin Wakefield in the 89th minute of play. In the 93rd minute, Matthew Knott hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Giles Hitchen was probably a little too eager to shoot when he, in the 94th played minute, shot the ball from way out. The shot was hard, but the ball flew wide of the goal. Stew Osborn who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 95thth minute tested the skills of Lance Orchard when he managed to save the team from getting behind. During the 96th minute of the match Matthew Knott completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Matthew Knott a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. Manchester City were awarded a corner in the 100th minute after Walsall's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Giles Hitchen took the corner. Manchester City played a much better game than Walsall and deserved their victory. The Walsall players were clearly disappointed as they left the ground.