Thompson's late show earns Leeds United a point
Walsall 1 Leeds United 1
Walsall have earned ungrudging respect from Dennis Wise this season, and Leeds United's dramatic draw at the Bescot Stadium proved his opinion is not unfounded.
The West Midlands club – one of the smaller representatives of a crowded footballing region – are in the thick of a purple patch and a vein of confidence which forced United to salvage a point with a deflected free-kick in the final minute.
Unbeaten in 11 games and creeping up League One, Walsall do not offer points for free, and the stalemate magicked by Leeds at the Bescot was the perfect example of a point gained. It took a fortuitous strike to ensure that Wise's players left Walsall with even that.
The game had entered the 90th minute when Alan Thompson's free-kick hit Ian Westlake and deflected beyond the reached of goalkeeper Clayton Ince. The strike secured a result which, by that stage, felt like a victory and had looked thoroughly unlikely after Tommy Mooney's goal 15 minutes earlier.
Mooney took an easy opportunity as the game wound towards a goalless finish, nudging Walsall into a position to inflict a third league defeat on Leeds. It was ultimately the outcome that United's muted performance had encouraged, but the club have been made of steel this season. It did, however, prove to be the difficult afternoon Wise had predicted.
Leeds were without Tresor Kandol – absent at the Bescot through a one-match ban – and the former Barnet striker was missed.
Wise made the point this week of stressing Kandol's importance to Leeds, both tactically and physically, and having to rely on a last-gasp equaliser vindicated his argument. Kandol will return against Bristol Rovers next weekend, and the resumption of his season will be welcomed.
In the forward's absence, Wise put his faith in Leon Constantine, handing the former Port Vale striker his first league start of the season.
United's manager had considered the option of fielding Tore Andre Flo after his effective return from foot surgery, but slight doubts over Flo's match fitness and the absence of Mark De Vries offered Constantine an opportunity which has been long in coming.
His condition was below its peak after a month spent recuperating from a cracked toe, and it was difficult for either Constantine or Jermaine Beckford to involve themselves heavily in a match which Walsall made the better of.
United had benefited last weekend from Ronnie Wallwork's glaring miss two minutes into their 4-0 rout of Huddersfield Town, and it took a favourable ruling from linesman Steve Tincknell to prevent early problems in the West Midlands.
Mark Bradley was left free in the seventh minute, and his volley from the edge of the box dipped over Casper Ankergren and crashed against the goalkeeper's crossbar. The ageless Mooney ran in and stabbed the rebound into an empty net but Tincknell signalled quickly for offside, a decision which Mooney accepted with good grace.
It was a rare opportunity in a first half when Leeds' demeanour seemed unusually tense, but Walsall were more adept at troubling Wise's defence.
Andrew Hughes raised United threat-level briefly in the 31st minute with a vicious volley from Jonathan Douglas' corner which deflected off Mooney's head as it flew towards Ince, but Walsall were compact and suitably prepared.
Scott Dann should have claimed the opening goal for the hosts moments earlier when he lost Matt Heath and headed Daniel Fox's free-kick straight at Ankergren from eight yards, and Bradley failed to finish off Peter Sweeney's corner at the back post. There was no question that Richard Money's players had dictated the first half. It took a one-handed save from Ankergren after Mooney's nimble turn and shot to maintain parity at the interval, and a goalless scoreline was reasonable compensation for Wise after a performance which will have fallen far beneath his standards.
Wise retained his starting line-up at the start of the second half, and his words of wisdom brought improved purpose from Leeds.
United pressurised Ince in the 54th minute when Ian Westlake drilled a powerful volley over the crossbar from an unhelpful angle on the corner of the box, and Frazer Richardson's shot from long-range scraped the side-netting without seriously worrying Money's keeper.
But Walsall responded in kind, and Ankergren's diving parry beat out a strike from substitute Edrissa Sonko after Douglas had headed Sweeney's delivery clear, and Wise played his most valuable card by introducing Tore Andre Flo from the substitutes' bench with 20 minutes remaining.
It did not have the desired effect, and five minutes later Walsall produced the goal they had been quietly promising all afternoon.
Fox looped a corner to Ankergren's back post, and though the Dane blocked a scrambled effort from Bradley on his line, the block diverted the ball
to Mooney, who Wise had highlighted as Walsall's biggest threat before kick-off and who could not miss from a yard out.
His finish appeared to have buried Leeds, but Wise threw on Thompson and Jonathan Howson and his players rescued a point with a goal at the death.
Thompson drove a free-kick into the box where Westlake's touch – perhaps intentional, or perhaps not – deflected the ball past a wrong-footed Ince. There is apparently no limited to United's talent for damage limitation.
Walsall: Ince, Weston, Dann, Gerrard, Fox, Deeney (Sonko 57), Wrack, Bradley, Sweeney, Mooney, Ricketts. Subs (not used): Roper, Demontagnac, Bossu, Taundry.
Leeds United: Ankergren, Richardson, Heath, Marques, Hughes, Prutton (Howson 78), Douglas, Kishishev (Thompson 78), Westlake, Beckford, Constantine (Flo 70). Subs (not used): Lucas, Huntington.
Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).
Attendance: 10,102.
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leedsunited/Thompson39s-late-show-earns-Leeds.3594643.jp
