A pleasing performance and a good win at Bescot last night, even if the first forty five minutes looked like providing a repeat of Saturday!

Merson made the changes he had to last night, with Smith and Devlin having been signed too late to play in this one and Constable cup tied. In came Osborn and Demontagnac, with James moving up front.

The first half followed a similar pattern to the Colchester game, in that Walsall always looked as if they could create chances, but really didn’t look convincing in taking them again. There were some improvements, in that James looked much better at leading the line than Constable and both wingers were providing much better cover to the full backs, so we looked far more compact, but the play was too often disjointed.

Timm, for me, was again being far too intricate and the “second striker” role just doesn’t seem to suit his talents – but more of him later.

Chances were coming and going before half time, with Leary going close with one pile driver from 20 yards, but it was James’ pace that was giving the Barnsley defence the most problems, especially on the break on the odd occasion when the home defence had been put under pressure. Having said that, he really should have scored from a one on one and Mark Wright and Leary both dallied far too long with shooting opportunities which were blocked. Wright also had another chance to shoot, which resulted in a weak shot and a regulation save for Colgan.

Merson made two changes at half time, bringing on Westwood for Roper and Standing for Osborn. Both were to work.

Westwood, despite some booing when his name was announced from elements in the upper and lower Floors 2 Go was, in the second half, quite magnificent. Whether Roper was carrying a knock or not, he has been given a testing time by the Barnsley forwards, although, to be fair, he had coped extremely well. Westwood just didn’t miss a header or a tackle.

The second sub also worked. Barnsley were just not presenting a threat from central midfield, as most of their creativity was coming from the wide positions, which were being covered by the wingers. Standing’s ability to run at defenders was, therefore, likely to be a better option, and so it proved, as he too had a very good second half.

The biggest difference, however, was Timm. As on Saturday, he started to drop much deeper, into the attacking midfielder slot, leaving James on his own up front and the wingers pushed further forward almost in a Chelski type 4 3 3. In that position, Timm was, quite simply, magnificent. He completely dominated possession and we looked dangerous every time he had the ball. Wright and Demontagnac also became a lot more involved.

Standing had a shot blocked, Wright dragged a shot wide, when he was undecided whether to cross or shoot and Demontagnac broke into the area without looking convincing about scoring, then Wright had a long range effort go wide, when the cross may have been a better option. Barnsley then threatened briefly, before the Saddlers deservedly took the lead on 67 minutes, when another long clearance found James, whose pace caused problems, before Timm produced the pass of the night to put Leary in, who rounded the ‘keeper and scored from a narrow angle.

Ritchie then went 3 at the back, chasing the game, which proved a mistake, as, finally, Demontagnac got clear following another great headed clearance from Westwood, his cross was too long, but Wright was completely unmarked on the other wing, his full back having gone off, and crossed perfectly for James to nod home.

Barnsley huffed and puffed for the remainder of the game, but the saddlers were, by then, in cruise control.

The only downs from the night were the terrible crowd of 4,078 and the fact that Joke City won on penalties, so it’s a trip there, plus we must remember that Barnsley had won only 1 in the last 7 and looked as if they had no confidence at all.

The other worry for me is that we still need a “big” striker, so we can change things when needed. If we get one, I just can’t see where Devlin is going to play.