Away day draw is a disappointment for Walsall

Dean Smith's side headed to Bramall Lane last night on the back of Saturday's 0-0 draw at Crawley looking to heap more misery on the struggling hosts but instead had to settle for a point, which was just about the right result as both sides huffed and puffed.

On another night, the Saddlers might have departed with all three but for some questionable refereeing by Chris Sarginson.

The official handed the Blades a penalty in first-half stoppage time for Chris Porter to convert after James Chambers was harshly judged to have handled. That came just minutes after

Sarginson had infuriated the home side by refusing to award a spot-kick when Milan Lalkovic appeared blatantly to bring down Aidy White.

Those decisions were the half's biggest talking points but rendered less crucial when Craig Westcarr netted the equaliser within 90 seconds of the second half beginning.

The striker headed home James Baxendale's cross to notch his ninth goal of the season. For a club supposedly with an out-and-out striker, the 28-year-old is doing a mighty fine impression of one.

If anything, the disappointment of the past two games shows just how far Smith's men have come. United, pre-season favourites for the title, looked low on confidence and the manager will be disappointed his side failed to take advantage of the considerable space afforded them.

The one area of the Saddlers team which again deserves huge praise is the defence, which restricted the hosts to a handful of efforts – none on target bar the penalty. They were particularly impressive in the second half as the hosts bombarded the visitors with high balls into the box. Skipper Andy Butler, along with Andy Taylor on his return to the Blades, proved imperious.

There was undoubted disappointment among the Saddlers contingent after the game, but these last two matches could be rendered valuable with a victory over Port Vale on Saturday.

Smith's men appear to have fixed their home form, if recent wins over Shrewsbury and Peterborough are anything to go by. Romaine Sawyers, who had a cameo last night, is likely to feature from the start. Whether Lalkovic, who struggled, does so is another matter.

The opening half-hour gave little indication of the drama ahead, with Conor Coady's header – hacked off the line by Butler – the only notable action. But after Lalkovic had gone close to putting the visitors ahead with a chip which was smothered by keeper George Long, the game sparked to life with two moments of huge controversy.

Lalkovic and White were the protagonists in the first, with most of the ground expecting referee Sarginson to point to the spot after the Saddlers man recklessly dived in and brought his man down.

But the official, much to the home supporters' ire, signalled his belief that Lalkovic had played the ball.

The injustice seemed to motivate the hosts and they went ahead in stoppage time, courtesy of another highly questionable Sarginson call.

A long punt into the box took a deflection immediately before being brought down by Chambers, the referee adjudging he had used his hand. Porter stepped up to smash the Blades in front.

The home side's joy last until just 90 seconds into the second half. Great work out on the right flank saw the ball find its way to Baxendale and he crossed for Westcarr to power a header past Long.

It looked as though Smith's side might have the momentum to go on and win it but it was instead the hosts who did most of the attacking for the rest of the half, without ever seriously looking like making a breakthrough.

A Lyle Taylor header which went just wide of the far post was the closest they went.

Matt Maher