Yeovil 2 Walsall 1 - analysis

Yeovil fans were given a DVD when they arrived on Saturday.

The Glovers want to improve Huish Park and put together a package for their supporters to underline the importance of their link-up with a supermarket project.

Walsall have shopped in the bargain bin for a while now and should they produce a highlights reel of this 2-1 defeat it would end up on You've Been Framed.

A 'two for one' deal – two deflections, one harsh defeat – left the Saddlers' pockets picked and they departed feeling stitched up. They have bemoaned their luck several times this season and this time they had every cause to as the performance wasn't a video nasty.

There was more than enough to suggest the Saddlers have the fight and quality – like they have always professed – to survive.

They were worthy of a point despite Yeovil's first-half dominance and territorial advantage for guts and attitude alone.

Survival hopes take a dent, of course they do, with any defeat during the run-in but one loss in the last seven is not damning.

It will not condemn Walsall to the drop and they are still outside the bottom four. It is rare at this stage of the season that so many positives can be gleaned from defeat to give heightened hope of avoiding the trapdoor.

The Saddlers, comfortably in possession, matched Yeovil and had it not been for Andy Williams' freak equaliser and Anton Peterlin's late own goal they would have stretched their unbeaten run to seven.

Yet, as boss Dean Smith said afterwards, they need points rather than plaudits for performances.

Other results saw the gap to the bottom four close to one point with just six separating the Saddlers in 20th and 15th-placed Leyton Orient.

Others continue to slip up just as Walsall look so strong – despite defeat.

The fight is wide open and if the Saddlers continue to perform in the manner of the last seven games they will get the necessary points.

That said, they would take a few scrappy 1-0 wins if it meant survival. Tomorrow's trip to in-form Sheffield Wednesday is daunting but, historically, the Saddlers have impressed against the big guns.

There is no better place to play or hit back than at Hillsborough and they will take confidence from Boxing Day's late show which stunned the Owls.

They have to be brave and there cannot be any hesitation as only the fearless will prevail.

And it was a gutsy move from boss Smith to start the returning Emmanuel Ledesma up front with Jon Macken – especially with the creative force of Florent Cuvelier already in midfield.

There is an understandable buzz surrounding the Argentine's comeback after a year away. Indeed it is a year to the day since his seminal moment in a Walsall shirt – the 5-2 revival against Hartlepool where he inspired the Saddlers from 2-0 down and scored the fifth goal.

It was a quiet return, though, with the 23-year-old still feeling his way back into the Saddlers' fold, his understanding with Macken a few degrees off. The line-up itself was brimming with attacking influence. Cuvelier, Sam Mantom, Kevan Hurst and Alex Nicholls added to Walsall's grit.

Andy Butler and David Grof were outstanding with Butler, typically, leading by example by putting his body on the line.

The skipper is the man for the occasion – big or small – and in the Saddlers' survival push the one who will drive them on.

Ditto Grof who continues to impress after another faultless game where he was only beaten by two cruel deflections.

His late save from Dean Parrett – which unfortunately led to the corner and spawned Peterlin's own goal – was brilliant.

There is growing belief, in and out of the club, that the Hungarian can succeed Jimmy Walker.

He never looked like being beaten in Yeovil's first-half onslaught which saw Williams and Jonathan Franks denied.

Luke Ayling rattled the bar before Albion loanee Mantom fired low into the corner from 20 yards for his second goal in three games a minute before the break.

Dominic Blizzard and Ed Upson headed over in the second half for Yeovil but the Saddlers looked comfortable until Franks' shot ballooned off Williams and looped over the stranded Grof just after the hour.

It was an incredible slice of fortune and Nicholls and Jamie Paterson wasted good openings trying to rectify the situation.

But Peterlin deflected into his own net from a corner, after Grof wonderfully denied Parrett, seven minutes from time to hand Yeovil the win.

It was an unlucky outtake from a decent show with the Saddlers now ready to play a leading role in their own survival drama.

By Nick Mashiter