Analysis: It's all about results for Walsall

While the performance at Barrow was nothing to write home about, it is another valuable point to add to the Saddlers’ tally that takes them a step closer to safety.

They are now three games unbeaten in League Two.

Momentum is building and the side has a bit of grit.

Perhaps the biggest thing you could say about this clash in Cumbria – a classic tale of two halves where the hosts were better in the first, and the visitors improved in the second – was that it was a game Walsall probably would have lost earlier in the campaign.

So often, heads would drop and shoulders would slump in the event of conceding first.

But for the second time in as many matches, having also done the same at Northampton Town last Tuesday, they responded to a first-half setback and claimed a 1-1 draw.

They can take heart from that. It no longer feels like game over if the first goal goes against them.

To be fair, the Saddlers were poor in the first half. Having switched to a 4-3-1-2 system, they looked disjointed and played into Barrow’s hands.

Lee Tomlin – making his first league start since October 2020 – could easily have seen red for lashing out at Bluebirds skipper Ollie Banks.

But while he got away with it, Walsall were deservedly behind at the break after John Rooney curled the ball home.

Thankfully, they were better after the interval.

Donervon Daniels and George Miller both went close to scoring, before the former – who put in a top performance – headed in for a share of the spoils.

It leaves the Saddlers 16th in the table and nine points clear of the drop zone.

There is still work to be done before everyone can breathe easy, but they have already reaped the benefits of making a tough call and changing head coach when they did.

Matt Taylor might have overseen a turnaround but Walsall could not afford to take that risk, and Flynn has now picked up eight points from a possible 15.

Again, that tally is not the most eye-catching and the Welshman knows the true work begins in the summer.

But the Saddlers are steadily picking up points and the threat of relegation to non-league gets smaller with each game that passes.

The big piece of team news was that Walsall handed a first start to Tomlin after his signing as a free agent a couple of weeks ago.

He came in for defender Hayden White, who was not in the matchday squad due to illness.

That meant attack-minded pair Emmanuel Osadebe and Tyrese Shade, having impressed as wing-backs, were being deployed as conventional full-backs.

Barrow, meanwhile, had former Saddlers striker Josh Gordon in from the off.

Walsall threatened to take an early lead after a clever corner from Conor Wilkinson.

His low delivery to the near post resulted in a goalmouth scramble, with Bluebirds centre-half James Jones having to clear the ball off the line. The Saddlers, however, failed to get going after that during a below-par first half.

The formation was not clicking and they were guilty of some naughty challenges. In fact, they were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men after just 20 minutes.

Manny Monthe got booked for taking out Gordon, but seconds before that Tomlin had needlessly kicked out at Banks.

The home bench, and a fair amount of the Barrow fans, were up in arms and demanded a red card. Referee Leigh Doughty, though, only dished out a yellow after speaking to the fourth official.

While that decision went against them, the home side carried on plugging away and eventually made the breakthrough.

Rooney, the younger brother of Wayne, was afforded time and space on the edge of the box – and he duly punished the out-of-sorts Saddlers.

Flynn, no doubt, would have been thoroughly disappointed with that first-half display. But they found an equaliser in the second period – presumably after receiving an earful in the changing room.

Substitute Devante Rodney drew a foul near the the Bluebirds’ dugout and, from there, Osadebe’s inviting cross was powered home by Daniels.

It was a superb delivery and an equally fine header from the centre-half, opening his Saddlers account in the process.

Both Shade and Rodney tried their luck late on, but Walsall made the long trip back home with a point. They now have a free week to work on things before hosting high-flying Sutton United on Saturday.