Snow joke for Smith after loss

Walsall manager Dean Smith felt his side's game against Swindon should have been abandoned.

Heavy snow fell during the second half at the Banks's Stadium, where the Saddlers eventually slipped to a 4-1 defeat. It was a result that never looked likely as a highly competitive first half ended 1-1, but defensive errors undermined the home side's efforts and cost them their seven-match unbeaten run. Smith said: "In the second half I thought the game should have been abandoned. It was farcical." Asked whether he thought the game should have been stopped because the lines were disappearing or the conditions underfoot, Smith replied: "A bit of both. I couldn't mark the referee because I couldn't see him. "I'm disappointed because we didn't deserve a 4-1 defeat. But they took their chances well." Not surprisingly, Swindon manager Mark Cooper felt it was right to continue the game. He said: "I spoke to the fourth official and he said there was no chance of it being called off, although there might have to be a stoppage to clear the lines. There was never any talk of it being cancelled." It took Swindon only three minutes to take the lead as Michael Smith turned in a cross from the excellent Massimo Luongo for his 13th goal of the season. But Walsall top-scorer Tom Bradshaw equalised with a low shot from Michael Cain's pass to register his 12th of the campaign after 18 minutes. A minute into the the second half Walsall wasted a corner and allowed Swindon to break quickly, with Luongo driving home a low shot from Nathan Byrne's pass. The, with 51 minutes on the clock, Williams netted from Smith's pass after home defender Paul Downing slipped in the snow. Williams hammered in the fourth for the Robins, and his 14th goal of the season, after a flowing raid and the game ended with players having difficulty finding or seeing their men in the driving snow. Cooper continued: "We started well and went a goal up, but to be fair to Walsall they played really well for 25 minutes in the first half and we had to change the system to deal with it. They deserved to be level at least, but we had some choice words at half-time and put things right. "It was a really good performance in the second half, but Walsall didn't deserve to lose 4-1. They were better than us at times in possession. They caused us more problems than any other team in the first half." Asked about Swindon's promotion chances, Cooper replied: "I get bored with saying it, but it's one game at a time. I don't want to fill their heads with anything. I just want to concentrate on performances game by game."