Walsall 0 Brentford 1

Shoddy Walsall slumped to their first home league defeat of the season as Brentford cruised to three points at the Banks's Stadium.

Clayton Donaldson's first-half winner deservedly gave the Bees the points after the Saddlers failed to turn up.

Alex Nicholls almost levelled in injury time but Richard Lee's fine stop denied them a point.

Ryan Jarvis also thumped a 30-yard drive against the inside of the post but the lacklustre hosts rarely threatened.

Jon Macken returned to partner in-form Ryan Jarvis, who had three goals in two games, as Claude Gnakpa dropped to the bench.

But the striker couldn't inspire his team as Marcus Bean curled over and Sam Wood's strike on 22 minutes whistled past goalkeeper David Grof's upright for the visitors.

Sloppy and slow in possession, the hosts were forced into a couple of last-ditch tackles as Manny Smith and Andy Butler put the brakes on Donaldson and Myles Weston.

But the visitors took a deserved lead on 27 minutes, when Donaldson outmuscled Smith and powered in a header from Adam Thompson's cross.

The Saddlers were second best and failed to mount a recovery, as their slick visitors bossed the first-half.

Too often, Walsall forced the play or failed to find the correct pass as Brentford easily withstood their powerpuff attacks.

But even half-time couldn't rouse Walsall from their self-imposed slumber and Grof had to block at Weston's feet after Smith's slip.

Donaldson should have made it 2-0 on 48 minutes when Weston found him in space, but the big striker slipped at the vital moment.

The Saddlers finally forced Lee into action seven minutes after the break when he tipped Kevan Hurst's drive behind.

Macken, who had been nursing an ankle injury, limped out for Gnakpa before Donaldson fired wide unchallenged after Wood's knock-down.

Finally, though, Walsall began to exert themselves and Jarvis almost hauled them level when his 30-yard piledriver shuddered the inside of the post on 65 minutes.

Gnakpa then shot wide and Darryl Westlake drilled a cross-shot across the box as the Saddlers threatened.

And deep into injury time Nicholls was denied by goalkeeper Richard Lee's flying save, after the striker wriggled free on the edge of the box.