Walsall match winner Jamie Jellis delighted to see perseverance pay off
Jamie Jellis was delighted that his perseverance paid off after scoring a dramatic stoppage time winner in Walsall's 2-1 win over League One side Bolton Wanderers at Bescot in the FA Cup first round.
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Josh Sheehan curled a free-kick into the top corner to give Bolton the lead 10 minutes after the break before former Trotters defender Liam Gordon levelled for Walsall five minutes later with a thumping half volley.
Jellis twice came close in the first half and struck the post with a scooped finish from the edge of the box in the final 15 minutes.
But the midfielder eventually scored his third goal in four games in all competitions to send Walsall into the second round of the competition for the fourth season in a row with a cool finish late on.
He said: "I knew in the first 15 minutes that me and Connor (Barrett) were linking really well. With Dave (Okagbue) and (Nathan) Lowe down the right hand side, we were causing them problems.
"The way we opened them up, I thought there was always going to be a chance. I could either hideaway after the first couple of chances didn't go in but it's not over until the final whistle.
"It's proved with late goals and just keeping the foot on the pedal. You're always going to get an opportunity and it could fall to you. It fell for me and I'm happy with the goal and to be through to the next round."
Walsall boast a strong track record in cup competitions this season having knocked out League One pair Exeter City and Huddersfield Town before holding Premier League side Leicester City to a goalless draw in their shoot-out defeat in the Carabao Cup.
The Saddlers, who have also secured progression in the EFL Trophy, added Bolton to a growing list of scalps and Jellis feels that Walsall don't "fear anyone" on current form.
"We don't fear anybody and we know that we're coming up against strong opposition in higher leagues. We know that they're going to be on their game and we sort of raise our game," he continued.
"They're the sort of games that we need to take into the league and do that against teams that we face on a weekly basis in the league. We step up our game and that's what we want. We want to challenge ourselves and coming out on the right side of the victory."
