Walsall manager Mat Sadler was delighted with how his side battled against the elements to claim a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Port Vale to leapfrog their opponents at the top of Sky Bet League Two.
Jamille Matt scored the decisive goal early in the second half as the Saddlers moved two points clear of Vale with a game in hand.
Taylor Allen’s corner found its way to the striker and, despite seeing his effort well saved by Connor Ripley, the ball looped up in the air and dropped into the net.
Victory extends Walsall’s unbeaten league run to nine matches, and Sadler was thrilled to secure a vital three points in extremely testing conditions.
“There were no injuries, everyone came through it OK and it was a good one to win,” he said.
“The football was really difficult to analyse because of the weather conditions, and that was always going to be the case.
“You wake up this morning, you see the weather as it is, and you think ‘who knows what the game is going to look like today?’.
“And it is like that. Anyone who’s played in this weather – it’s cold, it’s wet, it’s windy, it’s horrible and a set-play was always going to be the likely thing to win the game.
“So for us, we’re delighted to get the three points. And I’m just delighted that the supporters got that moment there because it was tough conditions.”
Defeat for Vale is only their second in 15 league outings, but they have now won just one of their last five matches.
Boss Darren Moore was left to rue a game that narrowly slipped away from his team.
“I’m obviously disappointed and a little bit frustrated really because there was nothing in the game really,” he said.
“A chance has dropped to them from a set-play and they’ve scored.
“Us managers will say from a set-play it’s always usually down to a lapse in concentration.
“And I was surprised to see it go in the net, even when he did get the first contact on it.
“I thought Connor pushed it over the bar because when you look at the reaction of everybody, to see it end up in the back of the net was quite surprising.
“And ultimately, that’s decided the game.”
Moore added: “It didn’t surprise me that there wasn’t much in the game at all in terms of where both teams are at.
“I’m bitterly disappointed. Obviously, we don’t want to lose games and it’s just the manner of the goal which we conceded, which decided the game in the end, which is the most frustrating part.”
