Michael Flynn thankful Douglas James-Taylor had no time to over-think chance

Posted Sunday, November 27, 2022 by PA

Michael Flynn was relieved that Douglas James-Taylor did not have time to think as he struck a dramatic injury-time winner to guide Walsall into the third round of the FA Cup.

It was the Stoke loanee’s first professional goal and boss Flynn admitted it was a good thing he did not have too long to weigh things up before firing past Carlisle keeper Tomas Holy.

Flynn said: “He is a big thinker and he needs to get that out of him because he over-analyses everything. He has the ability, he’s got the physical attributes and he just over-thinks things.

“I’ll be straight and say that I don’t think he had enough time to think about it – he’s dug it out well and thankfully it has gone in.

“I have had a lot of players struggling in the starting XI and I couldn’t change it around as much as I wanted to. If I’m honest it was a game we didn’t need. But we’ve won it and it was a game we would have lost in September.”

A goal from Ryan Edmondson on 29 minutes looked like being enough for the Cumbrians, the forward steering a sweet half-volley beyond Saddlers keeper Owen Evans after latching on to a Jon Mellish cross.

Walsall’s Danny Johnson had a shot cleared off the line late in the first half and Holy made a decent save to deny Isaac Hutchinson just before the hour mark. But the Carlisle keeper was at fault for the goal that hauled Walsall level on 88 minutes, miscuing a clearance to allow Andy Williams the simplest of chances.

The winner came deep in added on time when James-Taylor calmly slotted home after latching onto Hutchinson’s defence-splitting pass.

But it was Holy’s blunder which visiting manager Paul Simpson said was the turning point.

He said: “The first goal has killed us. It is a horrendous mistake and you can’t legislate for that. They’ve then got a bit of momentum.

“We haven’t been clinical enough to finish them off which is what we should have done. There were a massive amount of positive things but you cannot make those mistakes. It is as simple as that. It has cost us the game.

“From the 88th minute to the 95th minute you have to say that Walsall deserved to go through but for 88 minutes we have absolutely dominated the game.

“I’ve told the lads that they’ve chucked it away. It was an FA Cup tie and we should have been in the draw but they’ve thrown it away.”

Simpson also accused some of the Walsall players of being disrespectful after the game, which prompted a scuffle on the final whistle and problems in the tunnel. In response, Flynn said two of his players had apologised to the Bluebirds boss.