George Bennett gives his take as Walsall slipped to another in the quest for League Two promotion.
Walsall were looking to turn around their rotten form - and it started well as Ellis Harrison gave them an early lead.
But goals from Jayden Luker and a Danny Rose penalty had turned the game on its head by the break.
And Mat Sadler's men slipped further behind in the second half, as Luke grabbed his second of the game.
Walsall were looking to turn around their rotten form - and it started well as Ellis Harrison gave them an early lead.
But goals from Jayden Luker and a Danny Rose penalty had turned the game on its head by the break.
And Mat Sadler's men slipped further behind in the second half, as Luke grabbed his second of the game.
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00:00Hi Sadler's fans, I'm at the Bescott where Walsall have just fallen to a 3-1 defeat against Grimsby Town.
00:08It's successive home league defeats for the first time in two and a half years and has now invited Bradford with the opportunity to move top if they beat Gillingham in the 3pm kick-off.
00:20For Walsall it's two wins in 11 games, 10 points from the last 33 available.
00:26Matt Sadler was asked after the game whether he's panicking. He says he's not using any such words.
00:32He's proud of what the team have achieved before and still feels they're in a fantastic position.
00:37But clearly form is starting to waver and today's performance was really a culmination of what's been a real challenging period for Walsall.
00:48Matt Sadler made two changes from the 1-1 draw against Carlo United in Cumbria on Tuesday night.
00:55Jimmy Omat was left on the bench suffering illness and missed training on Thursday.
01:00Ellis Harrison came back in after he too had returned from illness after missing the game on Tuesday night.
01:07Harry Williams came back into the defence after missing the last four games with Oshan McKenty dropping to the bench.
01:14So Albert Odoma and Harrison led the line and Walsall made a strong start, took the lead inside six minutes.
01:22Sturck won the ball on the halfway line, some really good determined play from him, then found Odoma in a pocket of space.
01:28He then played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Harrison who slammed the ball into the bottom corner.
01:34But that did not set the tone for a Walsall win and instead it was an otherwise disappointing afternoon.
01:43They switched off from a set piece, Svansson worked the ball short and Luka was left on the edge of the box in a bit of space to get a shot away and picked out the bottom corner.
01:54Walsall were sloppy, it was quite an open game. Odoma had a really good opportunity when he looped his finish away from the target, probably should have done better.
02:05And then Taylor Allen was adjudged to have tripped Tyrell Warren inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot, Matt Sadler felt that he actually won a little bit of the ball.
02:15It was difficult to definitely see from our angle in the press box. Danny Rose stepped up to the spot, hammered it into the top corner, no chance for Tommy Simpkin and Walsall were behind.
02:25And then in the second half, Matt Sadler reacted from the bench, Jameel, Matt and Osher McKenty came on Odoma and Charlie Lakin made way.
02:35But there was very little improvement from Walsall and again, sloppy second to second balls. A lot of the sort of headed clearances were directed into danger, looked disjointed.
02:48The patterns of play, which have been so effective all season, kind of resorted to long ball tactics for the majority of the game, lumping it up to Jameel Matt in that second half.
02:58And Grimsby took the lead, sorry, took the lead, doubled their lead midway into the second half. Luca was set free by a free ball from Kieran Green, raced away.
03:12Simpkin was probably slow off his line and finished confidently into the bottom corner. And you could just feel really the frustration growing inside Bescott after that.
03:21And Matt Sadler was about to make a triple change before that third goal. Conley, Johnson and Evan Weir entered the action.
03:34But yeah, by that point, the game was pretty much done and kind of really descended into a real sloppy affair for Walsall.
03:46So yeah, 3-1 here, like I said, successive defeats on home soil. And that gap now is from 12 points clear, really disappointing to see.
03:58And results need to improve. Bromley next, away from home, before they head into a trio of fixtures against the promotion-gunning teams in the likes of ASC Wimbledon at home.
04:12Then they've got Doncaster away and then Port Vale in the early kick-off in April.