Walsall 1 Crewe Alexandra 1

Last updated : 10 March 2009 By Footymad Previewer
Substitute Steven Schumacher emerged as Crewe's hero with a last minute equaliser to snatch a well deserved point.

It was a cruel finish for the Saddlers who were denied victory in such dramatic circumstances.

They had seemingly been heading for victory after Troy Deeney took his tally to ten for the season when he opened the scoring in the 56th minute.

It was a superbly taken goal with Deeney beating the opposition defence to Alex Nicholls' right wing cross, heading home from close range.

In a desperate finish a cross from the right caused confusion in Walsall's defence. As everyone hesitated Schumacher moved in to grab a well merited equaliser.

Crewe had previously been denied by an outstanding display from goalkeeper Clayton Ince who took the honours against his former club with some outstanding saves in particular from Clayton Donaldson.

But he was all at sea when Schumacher popped up to earn a share of the spoils.

There had been few goalscoring attempts in a goalless first half although Crewe had every reason to be aggrieved when referee Tony Bates turned down a strong penalty appeal after Ince had clattered into Byron Moore.

The stalemate was broken in the 56th minute when Deeney converted Nicholls' cross only for Crewe to exert considerable pressure in their bid to equalise.

Schumacher gave an indication of his potential danger in the 61st minute when his speculative shot just cleared the bar.

It signalled a spell of intensive Crewe pressure with Walsall holding on in some desperation when they were indebted to Ince.

One diving save from a Donaldson shot had the home fans standing up and applauding in their appreciation of a five star performance.

Ten minutes later in another one-on-one it was Ince who again bravely thwarted Donaldson.

But they were finally forced to surrender in the last minute when the ball bobbled around before Schumacher applied the finishing touch.