THE SADDLERS left it late to grab a point against Crewe Alexandra in a 1-1 draw at the Banks's Stadium.

There was an early booking for Ian Roper following a late challenge of Dean Morgan as Walsall enjoyed the majority of the early possession without testing Ben Williams in the visitors' goal too much.

A foul by Darren Wrack gave Crewe a free-kick in a promising position on 13 minutes which Kenny Lunt fired into the defensive wall.

With 21 minutes on the clock, a diagonal ball from Michael Dobson picked out Tommy Mooney whose control took him away from his marker to hit a shot that Williams pushed out.

As The Saddlers continued to press, Rhys Weston hit a low shot from distance that flew wide.

A foul by Roper on Tom Pope gave the visitors another free-kick just outside the area which Michael O'Connor dipped just over.

On the 30-minute mark, Nicky Maynard hit a shot on the turn that bounced awkwardly in front of Clayton Ince who managed to push the ball wide.

At the other end, a neat passing move ended with Weston putting a dangerous low ball across the face of goal which was only half-cleared as Mooney then saw a powerful effort pushed over the crossbar by Williams.

Kevin Betsy linked up well with Mooney who flicked the ball on for Wrack to give chase, however, Williams was alert to the danger to gather.

Straight away Crewe launched an attack of their own which ended with Morgan side-footing wide from a good position.

As the half came to a close, The Saddlers increased the pressure with Mooney putting in an inviting ball that Betsy failed to capitalise upon. Then, having failed to clear their lines, Williams was forced to save well from a Mooney header as Edrissa Sonko crossed from the by-line.

The second period began with Maynard poking an effort wide for the visitors before a double substitution saw Betsy and Wrack replaced by Alex Nicholls and Troy Deeney.

A powerful drive from distance by Mooney was superbly fingertipped over by Williams and with Richard Money's men upping the tempo, Deeney's cross was almost met acrobatically by Mooney. Then Dobson teed up Sonko for a shot just wide from the edge of the area.

Despite the pressure, Crewe were able to go down the other end and take the lead as Maynard arrowed the ball beyond Ince.

It was a bolt out of the blue as Alassane N'Dour was introduced into the action in place of Sonko.

Nicholls worked hard to charge the ball down as the visitors looked to clear their lines. He then received a pass from Mooney before firing wide as he closed in on goal.

The next action also involved Nicholls who showed a decent turn of pace to get away from his marker only for his low effort to be gathered by Williams.

It was starting to look like it wasn't going to be Walsall's day until a last-gasp corner from Holmes in injury time was curled inviting into the danger zone where Roper made his presence felt to bundle the ball home through a crowd of players to snatch a point from the claws of defeat. 

PHOTOS: David Linney Photography