THE SADDLERS cruised to a convincing 3-0 victory at Swindon Town.

Richard Money's men had the ball in the net within the opening minute when Edrissa Sonko's pinpoint cross was headed home by former Swindon man, Tommy Mooney, however, his effort was ruled out for offside.

A neat move ended with Darren Wrack firing well over from distance with seven minutes on the clock, whilst at the other end, Anthony Gerrard did well to block from Simon Cox in front of goal.

Walsall finally took the lead on 11 minutes when a free-kick right on the edge of the area was curled home with much aplomb by Lee Holmes to give Phil Smith in the home goal no chance.

It was a purposeful start by The Saddlers and soon afterwards Sonko saw an effort gathered by Smith. Then some good link-up play involving Holmes and Mooney saw the loanee drag a shot wide of the mark.

Sonko did well to find Kevin Betsy out wide and his cross picked out Mooney at the far post but The Robins had men back to scramble clear.

The home side were struggling to get into their stride, however, Billy Paynter's knock-down just before the half-hour mark found the ten-goal Simon Cox but he was well off target.

With half-time approaching, McNamee put in an inviting low ball that caused concern as The Saddlers cleared for a corner which ultimately landed on the roof of the net.

Swindon were starting to find some momentum to their play at the end of the half and the last action saw Comminges' cross from the right cleared at the near post.

The second period began with Wrack threading a ball through to Betsy who twisted and turned but failed to get the necessary power on his shot to trouble Smith too much.

At the other end, Lee Peacock failed to profit from a low ball across the face of goal before there was a flashpoint near the touchline as Holmes and Comminges went nose-to-nose after the home player accused the former Swindon loanee of a late challenge. The end result was a yellow card for both players.

Some determination by Mooney on 56 minutes saw him evade a reckless Comminges lunge to set Holmes racing away. His initial shot was blocked by Smith but he was alert to snap up the rebound and guide the ball into an unguarded net.

There was a change in the wake of the goal as Troy Deeney replaced the ever-willing Sonko.

On 58 minutes a foul on Holmes by villain Comminges gave Wrack a free-kick in a promising position which landed just the wrong side of the post.

Mooney went off to a standing ovation as Alex Nicholls took his place before the lively Holmes embarked upon another pacy run that saw him find a way through towards goal only for his progress to be ended by a challenge from behind. The referee was quick to point for a corner and wave away any appeals for a penalty.

The Saddlers were looking full of confidence against a Swindon side that were a pale shadow of the team that gained a draw at the Banks's Stadium in January as they resorted to robust challenges. Another smart move saw Holmes feed Deeney whose strike flashed wide.

With ten minutes to go, Mark Bradley was victim of a crude late tackle by Cox as he looked to switch the play. The Swindon player was extremely lucky to escape with a yellow card as Bradley received lengthy treatment before being stretchered away. His place was taken by Alassane N'Dour.

There was still time for a third goal as Betsy broke through the home back-line only to see his effort blocked by the alert Smith as Nicholls reacted quickest to the loose ball to find the net and make it 3-0.

In injury time, Ince did well to tip an effort over the crossbar, whilst a counter-attack saw N'Dour find Nicholls who was off target this time.

It mattered not as Walsall came home with a richly-deserved three points following an impressive performance at the County Ground.