THE SADDLERS are out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy following a 2-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth.

There was an early warning within the opening minute when Jo Kuffour drilled a low shot just wide. However, it didn't take our hosts long to take the lead when Warren Cummings' inviting ball picked out former Saddlers' loanee, Lee Bradbury who lost his marker to plant a firm header home.

It was 2-0 in the seventh minute when Max Gradel's cross from the right wasn't properly cleared and Bradbury was alert to fire home.

Walsall were struggling to get into gear and soon afterwards the experienced Darren Anderton went close when his low effort took a wicked deflection, but Ince followed the flight of the ball to gather.

There was a yellow card for Paul Boertien in the 19th minute following a late challenge on the lively and ever-willing Gradel.

Five minutes later, Ince did well to deny another attempt by Bradbury who was certainly making his presence felt in the opening exchanges. From the resulting corner, The Saddlers once more put themselves under unnecessary pressure with some unconvincing defensive play.

There was a rare sight of goal for Walsall just before the half-hour when Martin Butler hit a shot on the turn that flew well over the crossbar.

The half ended with Kuffour and Bradbury linking up well to play in Anderton who saw his shot blocked bravely by Ince as the Bournemouth man had to leave the field for treatment on a blooded nose.

Alex Nicholls was introduced in place of Carlos Carneiro during the interval and he was soon involved in the action as he put in a cross which rebounded into the path of Paul Hall but the home side managed to scramble clear before he could pull the trigger.

At the other end, Kuffour fired well over from distance before Nicholls went close when he tried to lift the ball over the advancing 'keeper only to put too much height on his attempt.

The Saddlers were looking lively in the opening exchanges of the second period and a positive run by Hall ended with his shot from outside the area skimming narrowly wide.

On the hour a cross-cum-shot from Cummings required Ince to tip over the crossbar, whilst Richard Money decided to make another change with David McDermott replacing Boertien.

Another shot on the turn from skipper Butler this time lacked the necessary power to cause any problems for the home side as we searched for a way back into the tie.

Paul Hall was replaced by Troy Deeney as the game petered out in front of a crowd of 2,206.

The last action saw Ince make a fine save as he readjusted his position in mid-air to make a one-handed stop from Bradbury's close range effort.