Bury 3 Walsall 3 - Report and pictures

Analysis

After going in at the break two goals down following strikes from James Vaughan and Reece Brown, the Saddlers produced a miraculous fight-back to take a second half lead.

An Erhun Oztumer free-kick and two excellent finishes from Jason McCarthy saw Jon Whitney's side head into stoppage time hoping to make it three straight wins in League One.

But right at the death, Tom Soares snatched a point for the home side to ensure both teams had to make do with a point.

After sweeping aside both Sheffield United and Bristol Rovers in their previous outings, Whitney unsurprisingly named the same starting XI for the third straight game.

It meant the Saddlers continued in a 3-5-1-1 formation with Jason McCarthy and Joe Edwards the wing-backs and Erhun Oztumer operating behind Amadou Bakayoko in the number 10 role.

For Bury, former Birmingham striker Vaughan started up front alongside Tom Pope and Hallam Hope in a 4-3-3 system.

But there was also no place in the match day squad for centre back Jacob Bedeau following reports the 17-year-old is closing in on a move to Aston Villa.

In what was a frantic start, both teams had good opportunities to break the deadlock inside the opening five minutes.

First, a Bury corner fell kindly in the box for Pope who fired at goal only to see his effort brilliantly blocked on the line by Neil Etheridge.

Then at the other end, Oztumer darted into the box and saw a strike deflected into the path of Isaiah Osbourne. But the midfielder, who was stretching, could only side-foot wide from 10-yards.

After a sluggish start, Walsall looked to be finding their rhythm as the half reached its mid-way point.

But they found themselves a goal down in the 22^nd minute when Vaughan netted his seventh goal in three games.

After seeing two crosses blocked by Eoghan O'Connoll, Pope finally managed to deliver the ball into the Walsall box. And there it was met by Vaughan who side-footed home from close range.

Bury should have doubled their advantage on the half-hour mark with only a fantastic double save from Etheridge keeping them at bay.

Brown's sweeping cross was met by Pope with the Philippines international initially doing well to parry away the striker's volley.

But the ball fell kindly for the former Port Vale man with Etheridge getting back up and onto his feet to deny him again, this time from point-blank range.

Whitney's men had a chance to pull level just before half-time when Oztumer's flick sent Bakayoko through on goal.

The forward looked to drill his strike across goal and into the corner but Rob Lainton got down well to push the ball away.

And that miss proved costly with the Shakers going up the other end and doubling their advantage – albeit in fortunate circumstances.

Brown stood over a free-kick 35-yards-out and looked to deliver a cross to the back post.

But the midfielder's delivery sailed over everybody and clipped the underside of the bar before nestling into the back of the net.

The second half started in cagey fashion as both sides struggled to create anything of note.

That all changed on the hour mark though with Walsall presented with two glorious chances to get themselves back into the game.

First, Matt Preston rose highest from a corner only to see his header deflected off the line by Vaughan. The ball then fell for Osbourne who looked destined to hammer it home.

But Lainton raced off his line and spectacularly blocked the midfielder's strike by throwing himself at the feet of the former Villa man.

With 20 minutes remaining though, Walsall did find a route back into the game.

After Osbourne was brought down inside the 'D,' Oztumer stood over the resultant free-kick and curled a wonderful strike around the wall and into the bottom corner.

Incredibly, just six minutes later, Whitney's side were level. Some excellent football allowed Bakayoko to dance his way to the byline.

He then delivered a cross which seemed to evade everyone. But it was collected by McCarthy who cut back inside the box before unleashing an unstoppable strike into the net.

The drama though was not over. Three minutes later the Saddlers got themselves in front with McCarthy again on target.

This time the defender powerfully met an Osbourne cross and expertly placed his header beyond the outstretched arms of Lainton to send the 448 travelling Saddlers fans wild.

For the next 10 minutes Walsall looked like they would see out the game.

But as the fourth official indicated four minutes of added time, Bury got themselves an equaliser when Tom Soares converted Brown's inviting cross.

Key moments

1 A Bury corner falls kindly in the box for Tom Pope who fires at goal. But the striker's effort is expertly blocked on the line by Neil Etheridge.

4 Erhun Oztumer's shot is deflected into the path of Isaiah Osbourne but, stretching, he can't get his effort on target.

13 James Vaughan drags a shot well wide of Etheridge' right-hand upright.

15 Oztumer's in-swinging free-kick is palmed away by Rob Lainton.

22 Goal Bury. Tom Pope's cross is side-footed home by close range by James Vaughan.

30 Etheridge produces an outstanding double stop to deny Pope's initial effort from Brown's cross, and then block the rebound.

40 Amadou Bakayoko latches onto Oztumer's clever back-heel and sees a low angled drive parried by Rob Lainton.

44 Joe Edwards' 20-yard chip goes straight into the arms of Lainton.

45 Goal Bury. Brown's 35-yard free-kick sails over everybody before clipping the underside of the bar and going in.

50 A good ball from Eoghan O'Connoll gets Flo Cuvelier to the byline but his low cross is cleared by a Bury defender as Oztumer loiters.

61 From Oztumer's corner, Matt Preston's header is cleared by Soares off the line, and Osbourne's follow-up is blocked by Lainton.

70 Goal Walsall. Oztumer curls in a free-kick from the edge of the box.

76 Goal Walsall. Bakayoko's driven cross comes to McCarthy, who drills the ball low past Lainton at his near post.

79 Goal Walsall. McCarthy nods home Osbourne's fizzing right-wing cross to make it 3-2.

90 Goal Bury. Soares converts Brown's teasing cross to equalise.

Man of the match

Jason McCarthy

Teams

Bury: Lainton; Leigh, C,Burgess, Kay, Mellis (Pennant 82), Soares, Hope (Lowe 82), Moore, Brown, Pope (Miller 74), Vaughan.

Subs not used: Williams, Etuhu, S.Burgess, Barnett.

Walsall: Etheridge, O'Connor, Preston, O'Connell, McCarthy, Edwards, Chambers, Cuvelier (Jackson 71), Osbourne, Oztumer (Dobson 87), Bakayoko (Makris 94)

Subs not used: MacGillivray, Laird, Morris, Roberts.