Sometimes the magic of the FA Cup enables inferior clubs to put one over on their more illustrious rivals enabling followers of said club to gleefully wallow in a moment of glory…

…but in this case Walsall breezed past tepid opposition using little more than second gear.

Shrewsbury rolled into Bescot with an away following suggestive of resignation from the FA cup, and when Michael Ricketts headed in on 10 minutes B and Q must have seemed the better option.

Where was their keeper? where was their defence? More to the point at 10 past 3 where was the crowd? Ho hum, another woeful Bescot attendance, this in-spite of the free tickets for many and the absence of the traditional excuse of bigger games on the doorstep.

Still for much of the first half it was pedestrian stuff although Nicholson almost equalised at one point Shrewsbury’s main contribution to proceedings was to remind us of the awfulness of the league we gleefully left behind last May.

Like Cheltenham last week, they tried, almost manfully to make a game of it after the break until Ishy struck what is hopefully becoming his trademark 30 yarder to end the game as a contest. Their flapping keeper and his troop of budding non-league contemporaries had another little argument about whose knickers were in more of a twist and that was basically that.

Not great from The Saddlers, but more than good enough on the day. Dann was superb for the second game running, while Hall and Sonko were suggestive of better things than of late and Ricketts added dabs of quality. We need to step up a gear to become real achievers, and there is some evidence we can yet do that.

So a nice little phase of the season awaits as we see the arrival of Leeds and Forest next month, and also the second round draw. Of course a few prestigious wins and and the woodwork will give birth to the ticket bun-fight.

4,000 turned up on remembrance weekend, they should be at the front of any queue come 3rd round day lest the powers that be choose to forget, which of course they will.

Four games unbeaten, a win over Luton next weekend and in the next round of the cup could yet ignite the season.