The first half saw two teams with differing style jockeying for position. Shrewsbury used their power game to drive the ball through the middle and only some last ditch cover tackling kept the Walsall line intact. Walsall looked to put the ball through the hands and play the quick off load but stout Shrewsbury defence and too many spilled passes kept the game scoreless for the first twenty minutes. Shrewsbury registered the first points of the game as a quick break away resulted in a penalty on the Walsall 25m line which the Shrewsbury scrum half slotted sweetly. From the restart Alex Hawthorn gathered the ball, drove into the Shrewsbury pack and the recycled ball was moved across the Walsall back line where winger Robbie Edgar broke through several tackles to cross the line. Walsall profited from the subsequent restart as Max Hughes collected the ball and made ground to the half way line. Laured Kalari timed his run on the switch to perfection and sprinted unchallenged from half way to score under the posts, making the Ben Tipson conversion a formality. Walsall seemed to be comfortable, heading for half time with a strong lead and probably relaxed too early. Shrewsbury profited from errors from Walsall on the half way line and forced further errors under the home team’s post and used their size advantage to cross over for the final score of the half.

The second half started with a bang as Walsall racked up two tries in the first five minutes. Both came from supremacy at the restart, Max Hughes making ground and popping the pass to Steve Paddock to score in the corner. The ensuing restart followed a similar pattern with this time Liam Fussell scoring a fine solo effort from half way, converted by Ben Tipson. The home side seemed to be cruising to victory again but Shrewsbury once more hit back with two scores, split by a Steve Paddock try for Walsall, which kept the game alive as a contest. Charlie Wrighton put the game effectively beyond doubt with 15 minutes to go as he sprinted down his wing to out flank the defence and score under the posts, converted by Ben Tipson. Ben Tipson’s penalty kick 5 minutes from time eventually sealed a home win for the Colts, which was far from a formality due to the never say die attitude from Shrewsbury, and Walsall look forward to a table topping “eight pointer” clash with Hereford next weekend.

All credit to the visitors for making a game of it, a positive attitude to fulfilling their fixture obligations and being good company in the clubhouse afterwards.