Having not conceded a goal in the previous two and a half games, we travelled to Orient hoping to extend our unbeaten run to three - however you wouldn't have thought that was the case by our performance.
A lacklustre display from both sides in the opening half an hour saw the ball spend a long time in the air and both forward pairings struggle to get into the game. Grof made a routine point blank save from a Kevin Lisbie header & Paterson's squirm into the box saw his delayed shot deflected out for a corner.
We soon pressed the self destruct button on our run of clean sheets as a hopeful ball forward bounce between Grof and Lancashire, with the latter appearing to knock the ball from his 'keeper's grasp under pressure from Lisbie. Cox dispatched the loose ball comfortably, beyond the desperation of Sadler on the goal line.
Within minutes, we were given a lifeline as Orient midfielder, Taiwo was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Cuvelier. It wasn't the first time the diminutive Belgian had been fouled and referee Andy D'Urso wasted no time in reducing the O's to 10 men.
Ex-Saddler Marc Laird entered the game at half time as Orient looked to protect their lead against our efforts to salvage something from the game. A frustrating second half ensued as we failed to make our extra man count, pumping long balls onto the heads of the Orient back four. Even replacing Grigg with Nicholls & Peterlin with Bowerman failed to see us turn our much improved possession into genuinely threatening chances.
For the last 15 minutes of the match, Cuvelier seemed to be playing as the deepest midfielder, limiting his attacking threat as Nicholls and Paterson failed to deliver the quality ball Macken and Bowerman were crying out for.
We also risked being caught on the break as first Lisbie and then Smith were denied by Grof, redeeming himself for the error in the build up to the opening goal.
A couple of corners and free kicks were wasted as we looked set for a dismal 1-0 reverse, before Taundry's speculative 25-yard drive was well saved, resulting in a corner which Lancashire nodded home - 5 minutes into time added on.
RESULT: Leyton Orient 1 (Cox 35') Walsall 1 (Lancashire 90+5)
A point wasn't really deserved on the balance of play, but given results elsewhere it could prove vital as we approach the business end of the season.
By: Rob Jones