Exeter 0 Walsall 0 - Report

The Saddlers made the 163-mile trip to the southwest in poor form and were happy to sit back in their defensive shape, soaking up the Exeter presser in the first half.

The hosts had a handful of chances but failed to make any of them count. It was much of the same in the second half with chances few and far between for both sides.

It was certainly not a game for the purists, on a difficult playing surface, as both sides crawled to a point.

Brian Dutton made five changes to his Walsall side, starting in a 5-2-1-2 formation.

Cameron Norman, Max Melbourne, Stuart Sinclair, Caolan Lavery and Jayden Reid all came into the team - with the latter making his first Saddlers appearance.

Wes McDonald, Josh Gordon, Dan Scarr and Sam Perry all dropped to the bench, while Derick Osei Yaw was not involved in the squad and did not travel with the team.

Young defender Tom Leak made the trip to the southwest but did not make the squad, while Liam Kinsella was serving the last game of his three-match suspension. Jack Nolan also missed out on the team.

Matt Taylor also made five changes to his Exeter team but moved to a 4-4-2 formation.

Top goalscorer Ryan Bowman and defender Tom Parkes were unavailable due to suspension.

The tempo was high from the beginning as both teams made a fast start to the game. Exeter had a handful of set pieces early on, and a penalty shout from Ben Seymour which was waved away.

Walsall started with Tyreik Wright playing in the hole behind Lavery and Reid. Norman and Melbourne were keen to get on the ball out wide and in space.

The first big chance of the game fell to Lavery. Sinclair stole the ball in midfield and played a superb long ball over the top for the striker. Cutting in on his right foot his shot from inside the box was blocked.

Hayden White was fortunate not to give Exeter a goal when he cheaply gave the ball away in defence and allowed Joel Randall to run at goal. His shot was low and saved well by Liam Roberts. Matt Jay then tested the goalkeeper who was equal to it.

The Saddlers turned on the style as Norman nodded down a cross-field pass to Norman, who cushioned a header to Lavery. The striker flicked the ball around the corner for Sinclair who dragged his shot wide.

Josh Key should have put The Grecians ahead when he met a cross from Archie Collins. Despite being unmarked he directed his header wide. The defender was seemingly offside, too, but the linesman did not flag, meaning his effort would have stood if it was on target.

Some wonderful play from winger Randall set up Jake Taylor on the edge of the box and after his shot was blocked by Mat Sadler they were claiming handball. Nothing was given.

Both teams entered the break drawing 0-0 in a half that saw Walsall offer little going forward but keep the back door shut.

As the teams emerged for the second half Walsall brought on Gordon and Frank Vincent for Callum Cockerill-Mollett and Reid. It also meant a change in system as they moved to a 4-3-3 formation.

Rory McArdle headed home a Jay free-kick five minutes into the half but he was flagged offside.

The hosts continued to dominate possession as Walsall struggled to get out of their own half. Seymour almost netted when he met Jay’s cross, but Roberts kept it out at point-blank range.

The link between midfield and attack was almost non-existent for the Saddlers, who continued to lose possession or play the ball into the channel Lavery to chase.

Randall, who was a bright spark for Exeter all evening, turned neatly in midfield and set up Seymour but the striker lashed his shot high and wide.

Walsall’s midfield was doing a relatively good job of winning the second balls and stopping the Exeter attack - in particular Sinclair who was regularly winning his battles. As a result, the hosts brought on towering midfielder Nigel Atangana to try and take control of the ball.

It had the opposite effect, however, as the Saddlers began to see more possession and began building counter-attacks.

Roberts was then called into action to palm away a Randall cross that was sneaking in at the near post to keep his side in it.

At the other end, Lavery did well to get to the byline and cross but it evaded Gordon who was lurking in the box.

After three minutes of added time neither side could break the deadlock and they shared the points. It was Walsall’s first clean sheet since November 3.

Teams

Walsall: Roberts, Norman, White, Sadler, Cockerill-Mollett (Vincent, 45), Melbourne, Bates, Sinclair (Perry, 85), Wright, Lavery, Reid (Gordon, 45).

Subs not used: Rose, Scarr, McDonald, Osadebe.

Exeter: Andresson, Key, McArdle, Hartridge, Page, Willmott (Fisher, 88), Collins, Taylor (Atangana, 72), Randall (Sparkes, 83), Jay Seymour.

Subs not used: Lee, Dyer, Caprice, Kite.