Stockport 1 Walsall 1

When the smoke clears from what is another uneventful season the majority will sit back and draw breath, writes Nick Mashiter.

They will sigh and reflect, wishing for more before ultimately acknowledging they should be happy with what they have.

Taking stock, Walsall are a silk purse made from a sow's ear because – and there is no other way to put this – money talks.

There is only so much which can be done with a band of men who are the footballing equivalent of special offers.

You can only buy what you can afford and when cut price deals are on the shelves, you take them.

The only problem with these purchases is you know sometimes they work and sometimes they won't.

It's the nature of the market, you're not buying them off the back of a lorry but you'll never be able to shop in Harrods.

None are past their expiry date but the majority have got a few faults which is why they were available in the first place.

The players themselves know their flaws and, for the younger generation, know they are not the finished article.

They just do their best. Sometimes it's good enough and other times it's not, that's where Walsall are.

And a point at League One's bottom side Stockport on Saturday might look like a disappointment but in the context of the afternoon it was one gained.

Not so much a smash and grab, a smash and fumble perhaps more precise, the Saddlers left with a point their battling performance just about merited.

Just. Because make no mistake about it, a better side would have buried the visitors.

Down to 10 men after 19 minutes – Troy Deeney this time the man on the wrong end of the referee's card – Walsall rode their luck to the most extreme point.

Only woeful finishing and a performance from Rene Gilmartin which added weight to his number one claims ensured they left Edgeley Park with something.

Defeat would have plunged the Saddlers into a relegation battle – one they may yet fall into with some of this season's perennial struggles yet to visit the Banks's Stadium.

They should be fine, there is enough in this team to ensure safety, but any lapses or future hard luck stories could make it interesting.

Saturday's first half left you searching for the positives, trying to conjure them from thin air, rather than picking them at will.

The second at least gave some hope to cling to as the Saddlers' battling qualities shone. A mid-half huddle highlighted the spirit, these boys knew they couldn't fall to Stockport.

Credit must go to the Hatters who played some neat football on a patchwork surface and created countless chances.

Walsall tried to defend resolutely but had Stockport taken one of their opportunities we would be talking in a very different context.

As it was Walsall did just enough to keep that wolf from the door and we are left praising the dogged determination which has perhaps been lacking in the last two outings.

Defeat to bottom-of-the-table Stockport would have been difficult to justify and a point in the circumstances must be taken as one gained.

That willpower and resolve must carry through to the end of the season, the desire to be better than the average must burn bright.

But that's where Walsall are at the moment, average, and their performance on Saturday – even with 10 men – was testament to that.

But even before Deeney's red Stockport played a brand of exciting, expansive, attacking football which should have put them out of sight.

From the moment George Donnelly forced Gilmartin into the first of his fine saves after just 20 seconds it was hard to begrudge the beleaguered Hatters at least a point.

Gray volleyed wide but Stockport were well on top even before the game's controversial moment in the 19th minute.

The Saddlers failed to deal with a corner and when the ball eventually fell to Paul Huntington his goalbound effort was blocked on the line by the covering Deeney.

Handball and penalty said referee Michael Oliver, who duly gave Deeney his marching orders – the second time this season the striker has seen red.

There will be arguments for and against but once Oliver had acted he had little option but to send the hitman off, such are the laws these days.

Deeney was adamant the ball cannoned off his thigh and not his hand – although Jabo Ibehre cared little about his protestations as the former Walsall man clinically despatched the penalty.

It was Stockport's first goal in 589 minutes and they grew in confidence. Gilmartin had to be at his best to stop James Vincent from doubling the lead while Ibehre was causing untold problems for his former colleagues.

The recalled Darren Byfield should have levelled when he capitalised on Danny Swailes' slip but the outstretched boot of Owain fon Williams denied him.

The rest of the half was a procession for Stockport who bossed their opponents without creating any more clear openings.

Something had to be done and with boss Chris Hutchings' words still ringing in their ears the Saddlers equalised two minutes after the break.

Manny Smith met Jamie Vincent's hopeful free kick to find Gray lurking at the far post and the winger bagged his second goal in two games with a full bloodied volley.

From then it was all about preserving what they had.

Former Wolves wideman Jemal Johnson was a constant threat and Gilmartin was at full stretch to twice deny the MK Dons loanee.

It was a constant barrage from the basement boys with the Saddlers pinned back in their own half and Paul Turnbull was the next man to be denied by the impressive Gilmartin.

And in injury time the Hatters almost found a way through as Swailes slammed a header inches wide before Ibehre reminded everyone why he was such a frustrating figure last season when he guided the ball wide from six yards.