Matt Taylor lauds Conor Wilkinson after stunning strike earns point for Walsall

Posted Sunday, January 02, 2022 by PA

Walsall boss Matt Taylor lauded Conor Wilkinson’s class after the substitute scored twice to rescue a 3-3 draw with Newport.

Wilkinson steered home Walsall’s first equaliser within seconds of coming on in the 52nd minute and then scored an own goal before unleashing a stoppage-time volley in a remarkable cameo.

He flicked the ball up on the edge of the box with his left foot before volleying into the top corner with his right as the Saddlers came from behind three times.

Taylor, who scored a string of spectacular goals as a player with West Ham, Bolton and Portsmouth, hailed the effort and Wilkinson’s overall contribution on returning from a hamstring injury.

He said: “It shows you the confidence Conor has got but if I told you that he does that all the time in training, I wouldn’t be lying to you.

“The challenge for Conor now is to do that on a more regular basis – to be able to do that, we’ve got to get Conor on the football pitch and keep him fit.

“If we do that, we know we’ve got a very good footballer on our hands.

“He just passes the ball into the back of the net for the first one and, the second one, to have the confidence to flick it up with your left and volley it into the top corner with your right is immense.

“That’s how important it is to get your goalscorers on the pitch – and I’m exceptionally proud of the players and the character they showed to come from behind three times.”

Newport led early as League Two’s top scorer Dom Telford fired home from six yards and, after Wilkinson equalised and swapped own goals with Matt Dolan, he headed home to make it 3-2.

That was Telford’s 16th goal of the season but it was not enough.

Newport boss James Rowberry said: “I have to take the positives from it – we’ve scored three goals away from home and got a point.

“You can see what it meant to them when they scored – I thought they had won the league the way they celebrated, the reactions of their fans, staff and players.

“We are a goal threat but we have to tidy up defensively as a team which I believe we will do.

“I can beat myself up about different things and changes but we felt as if we needed to put height on the pitch and when it was 3-2 the goal is scored from a worldie from the edge of the box.

“Teams are upping their game a little bit to play against us so we have to match that – it was the craziest game I’ve been involved in so far!”