Walsall Football Club

It was a lively opening for Walsall as Jordan Cook went close with a curling effort from the edge of the area for the first opening of the game in the tenth minute.

Walsall continuing to play with purpose and cause our host problems, with Kieron Morris in particular seeing plenty of the ball out wide on the right.

The home side went close when David Norris broke through for their first foray forward, however, he was denied by a smart stop from Richard O'Donnell.

Moments later some neat play on the left by The Saddlers saw Andy Taylor feed Jordy Hiwula who was denied by The Posh back-line as the home side got men back. From the resulting corner, Michael Cain lifted the ball over from the edge of the area.

A sweet volley from Cain then went agonisingly wide with the 'keeper beaten as Walsall continued to look the most likely side.

Another sharp move from Walsall saw Hiwula find Sawyers who did well to hold the ball up before teeing up Cain for a strike on the edge of the area and he placed his effort narrowly wide of the target.

The home side saw Luke James drag the ball across the face of goal with no-one to profit, whilst at the other end, Morris danced through but his eventual strike was weak.

As the half came to a close, it was Walsall who had the better of the opening period but it remained goalless at the break.

The second half started with O'Donnell clawing away a cross from the left before a marauding run from Morris saw him tripped and from the resulting free-kick, Cain dragged the ball just wide with Alnwick scrambling across his goal.

The Saddlers continued to ask the questions with Adam Chambers being denied on a couple of occasions as the home side got men behind the ball.

There was a yellow card for James O'Connor following a foul.

A double change came with 20 minutes to go as Hiwula and Sawyers were replaced by Anthony Forde and Sam Mantom.

A stinging strike from Harry Anderson was pushed away well by O'Donnell as The Posh put the pressure on for a spell.

There was a sharp turn inside the area from Cook as he attempt was blocked by Alnwick.

As the clock ticked down, a sublime crossfield pass from Mantom picked out Cook who in turn fed Morris but as he looked to pull the trigger, he was denied by a well-timed challenge from Gabriel Zakuani.

Some more neat passing from Walsall ended with Cain firing wide from distance.

A final Saddlers' change saw Cook replaced by Amadou Bakayoko with just five minutes left on the clock.

There was some late stoppage time defending for The Saddlers as the home side forced a couple of corners, but it ended goalless in a game which saw Walsall on top for long spells.