WALSALL will not be charged by the Football Association over an incident where Bury keeper Paddy Kenny was struck with two coins writes Steven Canavan.

Kenny was hit by the coins as he kept goal in front of a standing area full of Walsall fans during the second half of Bury's shock 2-1 win at the Bescott Stadium in February.

It was the first time the West Midlands club had lost at home all season and many fans became frustrated with Kenny at what they perceived as time wasting tactics.

Kenny handed the coins to referee Graham Frankland and the match official reported Walsall to the FA.

However, after an investigation, the FA have decided to let Walsall off with a warning.

A spokesman said: "After speaking to the club we were satisfied that the stewards handled the matter during the match.

"The club have printed a full condemnation of the supporters' action in their match programme and we have decided to take it no further.

"As far as we're concerned the matter is now closed."

The FA's failure to hit Walsall with nothing more than a slap on the wrist will come as a relief to the club who could have been facing a hefty fine.

Walsall Chief Executive Roy Whalley even tried to blame the Bury keeper for the entire incident claiming the Shakers' highly-rated number one had deliberately incited the Walsall fans.

Importantly

Mr Whalley told the BEN: "It is a one-off incident which has never happened before. I will never condone coin throwing because it gives the club a bad name and more importantly can cause serious injury.

"However, if you look at the context of the incident, Bury's goalkeeper did incite the crowd by what they deemed as time wasting tactics throughout the second half, which the referee did nothing about."

The incident didn't bother anyone at Gigg Lane. The Shakers got the three points and goalkeeper Kenny collected the money thrown at him to buy a pint with later!