Match Report
On the table this was a mismatch: Walsall (19th, 52 pts) held a 16-point advantage over Bury (24th, 36 pts). The last five rounds placed Bury 11th in the league for form — higher than their 24th in the standings. Per game in the league, Walsall were scoring 1.15 and conceding 1.43, Bury 0.89 and 1.54, against a competition average of 1.27 goals per team per game.
Walsall arrived off four straight defeats. Defeat had followed defeat for Bury — five in succession.
The head-to-head ledger counts 11 games: 1 Walsall win, 5 for Bury, 5 draws, at 3.18 goals per meeting. Hosting has counted for little in this fixture — the home side has won only 18% of those meetings. Goals at both ends are the pattern: both teams scored in 73% of the meetings. The last five meetings averaged 4.2 goals, well above the all-time 3.18.
The venue was Poundland Bescot Stadium in Walsall, with room for 11,300 spectators. With 54 matches recorded and 1.0 yellow cards per game, C. Sarginson was the man in the middle. Half-time and full-time told different stories: it was 0-0 at the break, before 1 more goal closed it at 1-0.