Notts County 0 Walsall 1 - match report

Walsall ended their first week of League One action with a superb victory at previously-unbeaten Notts County.

A week after being rocked by a 0-3 home reverse to Doncaster, Saddlers continued their impressive recovery by bring County's 100 per cent start to a swift end.

There were doubts at the final whistle as to which player the 80th minute match-winner would be credited.

A long free-kick from Ben Purkiss brought County's defence to a standstill but Saddlers Man of the Match and captain Andy Butler followed it to flick the ball wide of Bartosz Bialkowski.

The ball was just about to roll over the goal-line when substitute George Bowerman followed up to make certain as Butler wheeled away in excitement to share the moment with nearly 500 travelling fans.

The victory was a reward for a superbly-organised performance from Walsall which restricted County to fragments despite their back-to-back wins over Crewe and Hartlepool.

Butler was outstanding but then manager Dean Smith had so many individual performances to encourage him as his hastily-assembled, new-look team bed down.

Young forwards Ashley Hemmings and Jamie Paterson caught the eye with a combination of sweet touches and hard work while Florent Cuvelier and Adam Chambers were immense in midfield.

County's best chance was probably an early effort wasted by Joss Labadie after Saddlers had failed to deal with a corner.

But that was a rare blip in a display of great discipline by the visitors which increasingly threatened the goal that left them with four points from a tough first triplet of fixtures.

By Martin Swain