Goalkeepers have always been judged on what they stop. Saves, clean sheets, the odd brave punch in a crowded box. What they do with the ball at their feet has usually been an afterthought, something to get rid of as quickly and safely as possible.
That is changing, and on Tuesday night at the Bescot Stadium, Walsall’s Jed Ward gave one of the best arguments I have seen for why it matters. Sky Sports called his pass for Tai Sodje’s opening goal against Oldham Athletic “simply sublime”. I have watched it several times now, and I am not sure that does it justice.
The Moment at the Bescot
Walsall went into the game unbeaten in League Two but in need of a lift. They had drawn their previous three league matches, and this was their first league game at home in 31 days.
The opening goal came in the 21st minute. Ward had the ball at his feet and, instead of launching it towards the halfway line and hoping for the best, he looked up and picked out Sodje with a drilled pass straight through the middle of the pitch.
The Express & Star described it as an “astonishing drilled pass”, and that is exactly what it was. It was flat, fast and perfectly weighted. It cut out the entire Oldham midfield and left Sodje with only one thing to do.
The Finish
Sodje did the rest with the calm of a player full of confidence. He pulled away from Manny Monthe, ran into the box and finished into the far bottom corner.
It was his fourth goal in three games. Within six minutes, Aaron Pressley had added a second, and he scored a penalty just before the hour to make it 3-0. Walsall had Elicha Ahui sent off around the hour mark, but Oldham could not find a way back.
Watch here:
Why This Pass Is So Hard
I want to explain why this deserves more attention than a normal assist, because from the stands it can look simple. A goalkeeper kicks the ball, a striker runs onto it, and a goal follows.
The reality is very different. A goalkeeper striking a ball over that distance has to judge pace, height and direction at the same time, often under pressure from a forward closing him down. Too high, and it floats into the arms of a centre-back. Too short, and it is intercepted. Too long, and it runs through to the opposition keeper.
Ward chose the hardest version of the pass. A lofted ball over the top gives defenders time to turn and recover. A drilled ball along a straight line through the middle gives them almost none. It requires a clean strike and a lot of nerve, because if a midfielder gets a toe to it, the other team is suddenly running at your goal.
That is the bit I find most impressive. He did not just have the technique. He had the confidence to try it in a tight game, with the score at 0-0.
Who Is Jed Ward?
Ward is 23 and joined Walsall in the summer from Bristol Rovers on a three-year deal with the option of a further 12 months. He made his Rovers debut at 17 and played 42 times for them in all competitions across five seasons.
He has also been out on loan more than most goalkeepers his age. He had spells at Hungerford Town, Wealdstone, Forest Green Rovers and Yeovil Town, where he kept 11 clean sheets in 46 National League games. He also won two caps for England under-20s in June 2024.
That loan route matters, in my view. Non-League football is a tough education for a young goalkeeper. You learn to deal with physical forwards, poor pitches and crowds that let you know when you have got it wrong. Ward has clearly come out of it with a thick skin and a good left foot.
He was not just a passer on Tuesday, either. He made saves from Favour Fawunmi, Kane Drummond twice and Gus Scott-Morriss to keep the clean sheet, two of them after Walsall were down to ten men.
A Striker Rebuilding His Career
The other half of the goal has a story of its own. Tai Sodje is 22, born in Sheffield, and comes from a sporting family. His father, Bright, played professional rugby league, and his uncles Efe and Sam both played international football for Nigeria.
Sodje joined Manchester City at 11 and spent around ten years in their academy, playing alongside the likes of Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Nico O’Reilly. He once scored 19 goals in 22 games in his first full under-18 season, including a hat-trick against Liverpool.
Then the injuries came. He was released in the summer of 2025, had a trial at Fleetwood that came to nothing, and rebuilt his game at Buxton in the National League North, where he scored 14 goals in 24 appearances despite a fractured foot. He has described the frustration of coming back from injury only to break down again, saying “it just kills you”.
Four goals in three games for Walsall suggests the worst of that may be behind him. I think there is something fitting about a player who has had to rebuild his career being picked out by a goalkeeper who learned his trade on loan in non-League. Neither of them took the easy route to the Bescot.
The Goalkeeper Who Knows
There is one more detail I like. Walsall’s manager, Lee Grant, spent his entire playing career as a goalkeeper, at clubs including Derby County, Stoke City and Manchester United.
I would be surprised if that is a coincidence. A manager who has played the position understands what a goalkeeper can offer with the ball, and is more likely to trust him to take a risk. Grant signed both players this summer, and on Tuesday night they combined for one of the goals of the season so far.
The Modern Goalkeeper
Fans of a certain age will remember when a goalkeeper’s job with the ball was simple. Kick it as far as you can, and let the big man up front deal with it. That was not a criticism, it was the job.
Then Ederson arrived at Manchester City, and Alisson at Liverpool, and the idea of a keeper as the first playmaker went mainstream. Alisson’s long ball for Mohamed Salah to seal a 2-0 win over Manchester United at Anfield in January 2020 is the obvious example, and Liverpool fans still talk about the celebration that followed.
What has happened since is that the skill has spread down the pyramid. Academies now coach goalkeepers to pass as well as save, and the result is players like Ward, who can do this in League Two on a Tuesday night.
As a Palace fan, I have watched more goal kicks than I care to count sail into row Z, so I do not take a pass like this for granted. When it comes off, it is one of the most satisfying things in football.
My Verdict
I think this was a brilliant piece of football, and I do not think it was luck. The technique, the timing and the decision were all spot on, and it was backed up by a clean sheet that Ward fully earned.
Walsall are now unbeaten in 11 League Two games, and they look like a side with a plan. If their goalkeeper can find a striker like that from deep, opposition managers are going to have to think twice about pressing them high.
The question is how many more of these we will see from him, and how long it will be before a club higher up the leagues starts paying attention.
