THE MONTH of April started with an excellent 2-1 victory over fellow play-off hopefuls, Tranmere Rovers as we bounced back from conceding an early goal.

Alassane N'Dour fired home his first goal for the club before substitute, Ishmel Demontagnac entered the action to great effect as he notched the winner.

We followed this up with another 2-1 success, this time at Cheltenham Town in our penultimate away game of the season.

In the Whaddon Road sunshine, Tommy Mooney and then Anthony Gerrard scored in quick succession to put us well in command. Mooney's goal came from the penalty spot as he confidently despatched after missing in the previous game.

Our hosts, who needed the points to aid their own survival bid, came back strongly in the second period and pulled a goal back but we stood firm after that to claim another important win.

A Tuesday evening visit from Bristol Rovers ended in a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of well-organised and hard-working opposition.

We made a prompt return to home action with a visit from an in-form AFC Bournemouth who had won five of their previous six matches to give themselves a realistic chance of avoiding the drop in what was a troubled season both on and off-the-field for The Cherries.

Despite an equaliser from the on-loan Kevin Betsy, we went on to lose the game 3-1 and at the same time end our play-off hopes.

In the wake of the defeat, manager, Richard Money announced his resignation after two years at the helm. It meant that Jimmy Mullen took over the reigns for the final away game of the season at mid-table Huddersfield Town.

There was a definite end of season feel to the proceedings as Mullen's men went down by two goals to nil.

The campaign came to a close with the visit of a Hartlepool United side who were promoted alongside The Saddlers at the end of the previous season.

Goals from Michael Dobson - in his last game for the club - and Tommy Mooney - in his last game in English football - put us well and truly in the driving seat, however, the visitors pulled two second half goals back to take a point and leave Walsall in 12th place in the table.

All in all it was a season of progress for the club with a number of talented youngsters emerging as we kept our play-off dreams alive until just two games from the end.