Walsall Football Club

It was a bright start for Walsall as we saw plenty of the ball and went close with Taylor firing just wide after a neat move on the left before Cook then saw an effort sail over.

A free-kick in a promising position on the quarter-hour mark saw Taylor's effort gathered by the 'keeper. Then a positive run from Cook ended with him firing over.

There was a scare when a loose Downing pass almost let in Lewis Young but Taylor did enough to deal with the situation.

The home side had a let-off when Sawyers' touch played in Forde who dragged wide from a great position.

A cross from Forde found the head of Cook but his effort lacked the necessary power.

Some great play from Baxendale sees him break with pace from his own half to set up Sawyers inside the area but he fails to take advantage.

With Walsall looking the better of the two teams, there was an opening for Cain who fired wide of the mark.

The last action of the half saw Baxendale booked for dissent as we went into the break goalless but with plenty of encouraging signs.

The second period started with Walsall pressure as Adam Chambers went close and then the resulting corner headed inches wide from James Chambers.

Then Cook got in on the act with a couple of chances that came to nothing.

A good break from Forde ends with him feeding Sawyers who is denied by a smart stop.

Some more pressure from The Saddlers saw Sawyers' powerful strike deflected to Downing who puts it wide.

A rare foray forward by the home side is greeted with ironic cheers from their fans as O'Donnell makes a routine save.

With 15 minutes to go, Ashley Grimes replaced Baxendale as The Saddlers looked for the breakthrough. There was a further change as Mathieu Manset came on for Cook.

There was a nervy moment as O'Donnell grabbed the ball right on the edge of the area and took a knock to the head in the process. He was okay to continue as the home fans appealed that the 'keeper handled outside his area.

Manset did well to hold the ball up and find Grimes who fired over from a good position just inside the area.

There was agony in the closing stages when Adam Chambers gave away a free-kick and was booked before the home side found the net from the resulting free-kick.

Stoppage time saw Sam Mantom return to action as he replaced Forde as Walsall searched for a leveller.

In the end we were made to pay for missed chances as we went down to an undeserved 1-0 defeat.