Walsall 2 Luton 2 - Report and pictures

The Hatters arrived in the West Midlands as the most in-form side in League One with Nathan Jones's having won 10 and drawn one of their last 11 games.

But they looked on course to record their first defeat since September when a Morgan Ferrier penalty and an Andy Cook goal put Dean Keates side into the ascendancy.

Over the course of the 90 minutes, Walsall worked their socks off in a bid to stifle their promotion-chasing rivals.

But James Collins gave the visitors hope when he fired through the legs of Liam Roberts in the 72nd minute.

From there though it seemed Walsall would hold on only for Lualua to pop up right at the death and break Saddlers hearts.

ANALYSIS

Luton comfortably outplayed the Saddlers when the two teams met at Kenilworth Road back in October.

And with that defeat still fresh in the memory, Keates opted to match the Hatters man-for-man with the boss plumping for a midfield diamond formation.

It meant Joe Edwards made his first start since injuring the ACL in his knee against Blackburn back in February.

He was joined in the middle the diamond by Liam Kinsella with George Dobson at the base and Josh Gordon at the tip.

Ferrier also earned a recall up front with the former Boreham Wood man partnering Andy Cook in attack.

Luton, in the same system, operated with Elliott Lee just behind strikers James Collins and Harry Cornick.

In what proved an uneventful opening 15 minutes, both teams largely cancelled each other out in their identical formations.

Gradually though, it was Luton who started to take charge of proceedings.

They almost opened the scoring when Sonny Bradley met a corner only to see his header well claimed by Liam Roberts.

Then moments later, some neat football ended with Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu clipping the outside of the post with a curling strike from 18-yards.

While Luton were playing some decent stuff, Walsall were defending well.

And that solid base allowed them to grab the lead just before the half-hour mark when Dobson was tripped in the box.

Ferrier demanded to take the resultant spot-kick with the striker keeping his composure to calmly roll the ball past James Shea and into the net.

Luton boss Jones sprung a surprise in the 35th minute when he subbed striker Cornick for Danny Hylton - with the 23-year-old far from pleased at being hauled off.

But from that point, the Saddlers saw out the half relatively comfortably with Keates' men growing in confidence after the goal - while they also did well shackling the threat of Lee with a defender snapping at his heels every time he got on the ball.

The game remained cagey as the clock ticked past the hour mark with Walsall's players pressing relentlessly in a bid to stop Luton finding any rhythm.

And the Saddlers then doubled their advantage in the 67th minute with Cook taking himself into double figures for the season.

Initially, Ferrier slipped on the left but he got back to his feet to find Leahy.

And he then whipped in a cross which eventually fell for Cook to fire in on the half-volley.

Five minutes later though and the visitors had pulled a goal back.

Alan McCormack darted at goal before then seeing a shot deflect to Collins in the box.

And the former Shrewsbury man then swivelled before firing through the legs of Roberts.

Just seconds later Luton through they were on terms when Hytlon headed in an off-target shot from Mpanzu.

But while the visiting fans celebrated like mad, the linesman raised his flag with the forward deemed to be offside.

With 10 minutes to play, Keates switched Kane Wilson for Gordon in a move that saw the Saddlers go to a traditional 4-4-2.

And heading into the final seconds it looked like the Saddlers were hold on and battle their way to a fully deserved victory.

But in the fifth minute of added on time, they had their hearts broken when Luton forced a corner.

Roberts initially palmed the ball away, but with 20 players in the box a huge scramble then took place with Lualua eventually turning the ball home.

Teams

Walsall: Roberts, Leahy, Guthrie, Fitzwater, Devlin, Kinsella, Dobson, Edwards, Gordon (Wilson 80), Cook, Ferrier.

Subs not used: Dunn, Johnson, Wilson, Ronan, Morris, Ismail, Bates.

Luton: Shea, Stacey, Pearson, Bradley, Justin, McCormack, Mpanzu, Shinnie (Sheehan 73), Lee (Lualua 63), Cornick (Hylton 35), Collins.

Subs not used: Isted, Berry, Grant, Jones.