If ever there was a case of two teams cancelling each other out, this was it.

The Franchise turned out to be a cross between the Wimbledon of old and a typical Martin Allen side. They were big, ugly and tough. So much so, that Keith Andrews, who looked fairly big and powerful in our midfield when we had him on loan, looked dwarfed by his team mates.

Coupled with the fact that we had a referee so determined to keep the game flowing, he missed things he shouldn’t have, such as only warning McCleod for his first blatant dive, then booked him for his second and, somehow, didn’t give a clear arm across the face of Hector Sam, or book their number 6 for numerous petty fouls committed. Ah, well, he was better than some we’ve had, I suppose.

The game really is summed up by the chances. There weren’t any to speak of.

Granted Ince had to tip a goal bound header over the bar acrobatically towards the end of the first half, but that really was meant as a flick across the goal that was miss-timed. Substitute Lloyd Dyer also hit the inside of a post for them with a miss-hit cross, but there only real golden chance was a header from Platt, comfortably saved by the excellent Ince, as the cross was too far behind him to get any real purchase on it. Apart from those, Ince’s saves were all from routine ling range shots.

The Walsall chances were equally scarce, however, with just a long drive from Fox that went inches wide with Harper beaten and, to be honest, the best chance of the game, a free header for Dann, (bought on to give us more of a physical presence up front), when he was superbly set up by Butler.

The problems stemmed from central midfield where Dobson was playing them on his own. Keates was completely muscled out of this game and showed his limitations when the opposition have something about them. Consequently, we got little possession down the flanks, which is where our creativity comes from and where, the superb Lewington had Mark Wright in his pocket.

Our best spell certainly came when Demontagnac replaced Keates, Fox moved inside and right back Jamie Smith, who had been cruising until them, was suddenly struggling.

Roper got the Sponsor’s MoM and I’ve got no complaints with that.

All in all, you could see why the Franchise’s away record is better than their home record, so better luck at the Hockey Stadium especially if we can find some needed reinforcements in the middle of the park.