Walsall for the first time in many years had the luxury of not having to play in the first two rounds of the F.A. Cup. Their new exalted status in the Second Division meant they did not enter until the third round but they faced a difficult away tie against Bristol City. This they survived on 6th January with a goal less draw and thus faced a replay the following Tuesday night.
TUESDAY 9TH JANUARY, 1962
F.A. CUP THIRD ROUND REPLAY AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 4 (Richards 2, Taylor, Hodgkisson) BRISTOL CITY 1 (Derrick) Attendance 15,420
Boswell; Sharples, Guttridge; Hill, McPherson (capt), Dudley;
Meek, Hodgkisson, Wilson, Richards, Taylor;
Cook; Briggs, Thresher; Etheridge, Connor, Casey;
Rogers, Atyeo, Tait, Williams, Derrick;
Bristol City 1961-62
A good crowd turned out on a cold January evening to see if the home side could progress to the fourth round with the prospect of an away tie against First Division Fulham. A clever ball from Wilson put Richards through after only six minutes and he made no mistake from just in side the penalty area, shooting high into the net. Despite this early advantage the rest of the half was very even and Bristol had as much of the game as the Saddlers.
Bristol however seemed to be playing across the field rather than making swift inroads and Walsall's defence held firm, although Boswell had to dive full length to save from Rogers and had difficulty dealing with a succession of corners from Derrick. From one of these Williams sent the ball so high over the crossbar that the Birmingham Post Correspondent said that it brought more danger to passing rail traffic than the Walsall goal.
In one Walsall attack endless deflections off a defender's foot, the goalkeeper's knees and the goalpost ended with Hodgkisson looking a certain scorer, but he too hit it over the bar. Then Tait headed against the crossbar at the other end and a scrimmage on the goal line ended with the ball being hacked away. Plenty of action throughout the first half which ended 1-0 to Walsall.
With Walsall, as they so often do, kicking down the slope to the laundry end in the second half it became almost non stop pressure on the hard pressed Bristol defenders. Many chances were squandered and an Atyeo breakaway looked like equalising but Walsall escaped and in the last fifteen minutes ran away with the game by scoring three more goals. The first came in the 75th minute when a Wilson shot rebounded off a defender to Ken Hodgkisson who hammered the ball home from 25 yards.
Six minutes later Tony Richards made it three after a long pass up the middle by Jimmy Dudley. Richards passed to Meek, ran into position for the return and hit it into the far corner from the edge of the area. The game was now won but Derrick scored a spectacular consolation goal with a shot from 35 yards out which took the poor goalkeeper completely by surprise. 3-1 and Wilson had to go off with an injured shoulder, which turned out to be a fractured collarbone. This will no doubt keep him out for some time and he will be sadly missed.
The game was still not over and the ten men of Walsall scored a final goal with only 30 seconds remaining. Another perfect pass from Ken Hodgkisson enabled Taylor to go round Connor and to score with a blistering left foot shot which sent the crowd home delighted. Bring on Fulham!
The Saddlers were brought down to earth again in their next league match when they lost 3-0 away to Leyton Orient, but things picked up again with the next home league match with Preston North End.
SATURDAY 20TH JANUARY, 1961
LEAGUE DIVISION TWO AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 2 (Taylor, Meek) PRESTON NORTH END 1 (Biggs) Attendance 10,084
Boswell; Sharples, Guttridge; Hill, McPherson (capt), Dudley;
Mee, Hodgkisson, Palin, Richards, Taylor;
Kelly; Cunningham, Ross; Wylie, Singleton, Smith;
Wilson, Biggs, Dawson, Spavin, Thompson;
Referee:- P. Hackney, Barnsley
Walsall, still without the injured Tommy Wilson had tried a local lad Ralph Beaman at centre forward last week, but he too was injured, so Granville Palin continued his move from right back. Richards after missing a rare match with flu returned in place of Trevor Foster. The home side, again kicking up the slope in the first half, went ahead after only four minutes. Meek started the move out on the right and his cross was flicked on by Richards to Taylor, who was unmarked and the winger sent a curling shot just inside the far post.
Preston soon got back into the game and Boswell made a fine save from Spavin before Meek shot over the bar when well placed at the other end. Preston looked good in midfield but did not get into many dangerous positions near goal. Dawson, the former Manchester United player, had their best chance and shot only inches wide after a pass from the tricky Peter Thompson on the left.
After 39 minutes Preston got an equaliser when Wilson's corner kick was flicked on by Wylie and Biggs hit the ball on the volley with a powerful shot which Boswell had no hope of saving. Preston were in control up to the interval and nearly scored again when Boswell had to dive to save a Dawson header. Half time 1-1.
Walsall were back in the lead within 30 seconds of the second half due to the tenacity of the smallest man on the field George Meek. The little winger beat two men before loosing possession, but Hodgkisson won the ball back again and returned it to Meek. He raced into the middle past three defenders and smashed the ball into the net from ten yards. A great goal which delighted the fans.
Walsall were all over Preston at this stage and Taylor went close with a 25 yard drive. The home side continued to dominate but could not add the decisive goal after being handicapped by injuries to both Meek and Guttridge. In fact Preston very nearly equalised through Dawson until stopped by Guttridge almost on the line. The full back needed attention after that but was able to resume until the final whistle gave Walsall a much needed two points.
SATURDAY 27TH JANUARY, 1961
F.A.CUP FOURTH ROUND AT CRAVEN COTTAGE, FULHAM
FULHAM 2 (Henderson, Cook) WALSALL 2 (Richards 2, 1 pen.) Attendance 30,030
Macedo; Cohen, Mealand; Mullery, Lampe, Lowe;
Leggat, O'Connell, Cook, Haynes, Henderson;
Boswell; Palin, Guttridge; Hill, McPherson (capt), Dudley;
Meek, Hodgkisson, Rowe, Richards, Taylor;
Referee:- K.A. Collinge, Cheshire
On paper the Fulham side which contained international players of the status of George Cohen, Alan Mullery, Eddie Lowe and Johnny Haynes, as well as Scottish international Graham Leggat, should have been far too good for poor relations Walsall. However, as we know only too well the F.A. Cup can always come up with surprises and it proved to be well worth the journey down to London as the following report from the Birmingham Post confirms.
TUESDAY 30TH JANUARY 1961
F.A. CUP FOURTH ROUND REPLAY AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 0 FULHAM 2 (Lowe, Metchick) Attendance 24,405
Boswell; Palin, Guttridge; Hill, McPherson (capt), Dudley;
Meek, Hodgkisson, Rowe, Richards, Taylor;
Macedo; Cohen, Mealand; Mullery, Lampe, Lowe;
Cook, Leggat, Henderson, Haynes, Metchick;
Referee:- K.A. Collinge (Altrincham)
Walsall had high hopes of progressing to the fifth round of the F.A. Cup for the first time since 1938-39 when they were knocked out at Huddersfield. However the experience of the First Division side, notably the former England wing half and Villa player Eddie Lowe and England's current captain Johnny Haynes, were too much for the Saddlers, who never found their best form.
Walsall continued with the experiment of playing Norman Rowe at centre forward. Despite his enthusiasm in the first match he is normally a winger and completely out of place as deputy for injured centre forward Tom Wilson.
Boswell, the young Walsall goalkeeper, made some good saves but was uncertain under the high balls into the area and his mistake, when he palmed the ball out from a Metchick corner led to Eddie Lowe lobbing it back over him for a simple first goal. Walsall were never really in the game for the rest of the first half with only one real attempt from Meek which Macedo dived to push round the post.
Half time 0-1.
Walsall tried everything they could in the second half switching Rowe to the wing and bringing Colin Taylor into the centre but that never really worked, apart from one chance when the ball luckily rebounded from Macedo, and the home side were well below par as Fulham continued to dominate. The visitors could have had more goals but Metchick and Leggat both missed relatively simple chances. Two minutes from time with Walsall pressing forward in a desperate search for an equaliser Fulham broke away with Henderson who provided the cross for teenager Metchick to score the second killer goal.
So Walsall were out of the cup and as the saying goes able to concentrate on the league and consolidating their position in the Second Division.
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