Tommy Leigh and Joe Pritchard were the goal heroes as Accrington Stanley moved closer to the Play-Off places with a 2-1 win over Walsall.
Stanley were at it from the off and a Pritchard corner in the opening seconds had to be frantically cleared while Pritchard’s header from Tommy Leigh’s ball in was just over the bar.
Stanley opened the scoring on nine minutes when Pritchard raced forward but his strike was pushed away by keeper Jackson Smith and Leigh pounced to send the ball into empty net. It was his sixth goal of the season.
Every Reds corner looked dangerous with Josh Woods heading one over at the far post in the 27th minute.
However, Walsall came more into it and, on 30 minutes, Freddie Draper raced onto a ball and hit his shot narrowly wide while Jamille Matt fired off-target with the next opportunity.
Josh Woods then had a great chance to double Stanley’s lead when he burst forward from midfield on 31 minutes with only Smith to beat but the Saddlers keeper dived low to deny him.
Walsall were awarded a penalty for a foul by Joe Gubbins on Donervon Daniels and, although Joe Walsh guessed the right way, Draper tucked it into the corner of the net to make it level at the break.
Pritchard had early chances in the second half, firing two at Smith and another narrowly wide.
However the former Bolton man got on the scoresheet on 57 minutes when he got the ball out on the left and his cross evaded everyone and found the far corner of the net.
Keeper Smith stopped Leigh getting on the scoresheet again on 71 minutes after the Stanley forward had charged clean through while Josh Woods chipped an effort over in the six-yard box in the 82nd minute as the Reds looked for a third to give manager John Coleman a less nervous time on the touchline.
They saw out seven minutes of added time to secure the three points which moves Stanley into eighth place in the League – one point off Wimbledon.
Stanley: Walsh, Shipley, Hills, Gubbins, O’Brien, Martin, B Woods, Nolan (Trickett), Pritchard (Whalley), Leigh (Henderson), J Woods (Adekoya)
Subs: McIntyre, Mellor, Pickles
Crowd: 2386 (400 from Walsall)