THE SADDLERS came home from a wet and windy Oldham with three points courtesy of an impressive 2-0 win.
Richard Money's men made the perfect start when a foul on Ishmel Demontagnac by Neil Eardley within the opening minute presented us with a free-kick in a dangerous position which Richard Taundry delivered onto the head of Scott Dann who found space to beat the veteran Mark Crossley in the home goal.
It stunned the home side, who went into the game in decent form, and they tried to get back on level terms as a break down the right ended with Lee Hughes hitting the side-netting.
In the next attack, Clayton Ince had to be alert to push over a cross which got caught in the swirling wind as The Latics proceeded to force a number of early corners which required some resolute defending by Walsall to keep them at bay in difficult conditions.
After Hughes had put a header over, another flag-kick was met by a towering header from central defender, Stefan Stam who was just off target.
At the other end, a Taundry corner just past the half-hour picked out Anthony Gerrard in space but he saw his glancing header land well wide of the target.
There was an equally good opportunity for Neal Trotman at the other end but he too was wide of the mark. Shortly afterwards, Trotman was involved in the action at the other end of the field as he nearly put through his own net for what would have been an embarressing own goal.
The half ended with Hughes firing over at the far post after an inviting ball found its way over to him from the left-hand side.
The early action of the second period saw a neat Saddlers' move as Demontagnac linked up with Peter Sweeney whose cross in search of Michael Ricketts was scrambled clear by The Latics' defence.
Ince did well to push over a Neil Kilkenny effort from just outside the area as the ball swerved in the wind before Troy Deeney was replaced by Edrissa Sonko.
With 64 minutes on the clock, Ricketts managed to double our advantage against his parent club as he latched onto a flick-on to power his way past Eardley before biding his time to fire beyond an exposed Crossley. It was a quality finish from the on-loan front-man.
Shortly after the goal, Oldham almost pulled one back when Hughes' cross was met by Deane Smalley just ahead of Ince who was adjudged to have deflected the ball for a corner which ultimately came to nothing.
There was another change as Paul Hall came on for Demontagnac, whilst a shot from Hughes was easily fielded by Ince who was in commanding form along with the rest of his back-line.
As the clock ticked down, the impressive Taundry saw a free-kick whipped in to force a corner which the home side managed to clear in front of goal.
On 87 minutes a header from Gerrard looped over then an effort from distance by Ricketts struck the post with Crossley beaten as The Saddlers cruised through the closing stages to secure a fine win and extend our unbeaten run.
It means that 2007 started with a 2-0 away win and ended with a 2-0 away win!
