Match Report | Walsall

The Bees fell to a 2-1 defeat to Walsall in the second home game of the 2025/26 vSky Bet League Two season.

The Sadlers took the lead inside two minutes, with Connor Barrett capitalising on a mistake in the backline to give the visitors an early advantage.

Cieran Slicker was put under pressure from a Sadler high line, but dealt with the ball well and cleared the danger.

Our first effort came through Nnamdi Ofoborh, but his strike from range was over the bar.

Ryan Glover worked the ball well down the left-hand side on numerous occasions and forced corners for the Bees, but nothing that troubled Myles Roberts in the visiting goal.

We came close after the opening 15 minutes of the game, with some excellent footwork from Ofoborh allowed the midfielder to drive forward. He took aim from the edge of the area and forced Roberts into a save.

Walsall doubled their advantage half-way through the first 45, with a Mason Hancock free-kick being latched onto by Aaron Pressley.

Ollie Hawkins closed the deficit before the break. A corner from captain Anthony Hartigan was met by the number 12 to close the gap with minutes to go before half-time.

Half-time: Barnet 1-2 Walsall

Shortly after the restart, Ofoborh saw a second yellow and the Bees were down to ten men for the remainder of the half.

Hancock was through on goal for Walsall’s third, but an excellently-timed challenge from Adam Senior denied the Saddler.

Head Coach Dean Brennan made his first change of the afternoon, bringing on Ryan Galvin for Kane Smith just before the hour mark.

In what was a quiet opening to the second-half, Slicker rose high to comfortably claim a looping ball from Walsall’s Daniel Cox.

The Bees’ second substitution saw Emmanuel Osadebe come on in place of Mark Shelton as the clock ticked towards the 70-minute mark, before a triple change saw Zak Brunt, Idris Kanu and Lee Ndlovu enter the fray, in place of Ryan Glover, Anthony Hartigan and Callum Stead.

The changes saw a late flurry of energy from Brennan’s side. Brunt sent a threatening delivery into the box, and the ball was battled with just inches out from goal, before eventually being cleared.

The Bees had the ball in the penalty area yet again, and this time, it fell to Brunt on the edge of the area, but the ball bobbled in front of him, and his resulting effort was wide of the post.

Full-time: Barnet 1-2 Walsall

Barnet will look to bounce back when they visit Swindon Town on Tuesday 19^th August.

Line-up: Slicker, Collinge, Senior, Stead (Ndlovu, 82’), Hawkins, Glover (Kanu, 82’), Hartigan (Brunt, 82’), Shelton (Osadebe, 66’), Smith (Galvin, 59’), Tavares, Ofoborh