Pre-season: Walsall 1-1 Aston Villa - Report
Walsall earned an impressive 1-1 draw against Aston Villa in their pre-season clash at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.
Danny Johnson fired Walsall into the lead in the 31st minute, before Ollie Watkins levelled from the spot just before the break.
The Saddlers are unbeaten across their two pre-season friendlies so far after defeating Leamington 4-1 earlier this week.
And it was the first time Walsall had registered a result against Villa in six years of annual pre-season meetings.
Walsall made the stronger start but it was Villa who had the first sight of goal when Emi Buendia screwed his effort wide at the end of a promising attack.
Villa had another opportunity which Aaron Ramsey was unable to convert. Watkins peeled off the shoulder of Liam Gordon but Ramsey was just unable to connect with his low cross on the stretch.
The Saddlers controlled the ball nicely overall and showed impressive intensity off the ball to prevent Villa from finding any rhythm in possession in the opening 30 minutes. And the hosts were rewarded for an auspicious display when Johnson opened the scoring just past the half-hour mark.
Chris Hussey's corner was only scuffed clear by Villa and Johnson showcased his predatory instincts in the box to fire home from point blank range. But Villa restored parity on the cusp of half-time after Watkins converted confidently from the spot.
Jaden Philogene-Bidace charged dangerously into the penalty area and was upended by Gordon. Referee Tom Parsons immediately pointed to the spot, and Watkins kept his cool to send Owen Evans the wrong way,
Sadler brought on triple reinforcements at the break with Douglas James-Taylor and Jamille Matt replacing Johnson and Freddie Draper as the centre-forward pairing.
However, James-Taylor went down on the centre circle shortly after his introduction, and was forced off with an injury. Both teams then introduced a combined total of 14 substitutions at the same time, as Sadler introduced four trialists with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Villa gave a number of youngsters a run out in the latter stages and Kadan Young posed a serious threat down the right.
His low cross was slotted wide by Omari Kellyman, while Tommi O'Reilly and Seb Revan also saw their shots narrowly miss the target from range.
Ronan Maher came close to clinching victory for Walsall after stealing the ball on the edge of the box, but he dragged his low strike just wide of the mark.
Teams
Walsall XI (3-4-1-2): O Evans; P Farquharson (Trialist B 65'), D Daniels (c) (Trialist D 65'), C Hussey (T Allen 65'); T Knowles (J Foulkes 65), O McEntee (J Riley 46'), R Stirk (M Onabirekhanlen 81'), L Gordon (T Owen 65'); D Johnson (J Matt 46'), F Draper (D James-Taylor 46').
Unused subs: Trialist A
Villa XI: F Marschall (Sinisalo 66'); M Cash (L Bogarde 66'), J Feeney (E Konsa 46'), D Carlos (B Chrisene 66'), L Digne (K Young 66;); J Philogene-Bidace (T Patterson 66'), T Iroegbunam (C Chambers ON); A Ramsey (M Sanson 46'), D Luiz (S Revan 66'); O Watkins (O Kellyman 66;), E Buendia (T O'Reilly 66')
Unused subs: J Wright.
Referee: Tom Parsons
