ACCRINGTON goalkeeper Connor Ripley has been making his frustration about not having a clean sheet for his new club known, meaning his team mates may have enjoyed a quieter trip home after they picked up their first shut out of the season at Walsall.

Billy Kee’s first half penalty was enough to beat the Saddlers 1-0 to secure back to back League One wins with Ripley more than playing his part in the performance.

Stanley started brightly with Seamus Conneely and Scott Brown restored to the side and after a couple of initial forward forays found themselves with a huge chance to take the lead after just five minutes. Nick Anderton’s long throw was only partly cleared to Conneely who saw his chances of latching onto the loose ball inside the box thwarted by the high boot of Isaiah Osbourne and referee Charles Breakspear pointed to the penalty spot.

No player in the top four leagues had scored more from 12 yards in the last season and a half than Kee and he dispatched his 11th since the start of 2017/18, rolling the ball down the middle for his fifth goal of the campaign.

The home side came into the game fifth in the table having lost just one of their last nine league matches and set about trying to draw level.

A spell of pressure from the hosts saw them begin to create chances and Ripley was soon called into action, parrying a snapshot from Josh Ginnelly before throwing himself to his left to keep out Jon Guthrie’s header from the resulting corner, colliding with the post in the process.

The Reds were relinquishing possession too easily but Walsall were unable to punish them, even though they felt they should have had a penalty of their own when Ripley slid out to meet Zeli Ismail and the winger went down.

Half time brought about the desired change in John Coleman’s side, who dominated the early exchanges of the second period. Within a minute Sean McConville whistled a shot wide of the right post and they would go closer still.

Jordan Clark picked the ball up on the halfway line, evaded three challenges and burst into the box only for Walsall keeper Liam Roberts to push out his low strike.

Moments later Roberts had to be even better to paw a blockbuster from McConville over the top.

The game was becoming disjointed and the home supporters frustrated and that played into Stanley’s hands as they looked to run down the clock.

Guthrie and Ginnelly were both off target as they looked to give those fans something to cheer about, while McConville saw one shot fly wide and another deflected away from danger as he looked to silence them.

A late flurry was inevitable from the Saddlers but Ripley proved equal to their best efforts. First the Middlesbrough loanee was spread-eagled to keep out a Luke Leahy header, though the full back was offside, and then flying across his goal to claw away Ismail’s effort from a Morgan Ferrier cross in stoppage time.

Sub Andy Cook headed the resulting corner wide and despite some bizarre confusion over the timing of the final whistle the points and the clean sheet were secured. Ripley could celebrate with the visiting fans and be frustrated no more.