‘SPECIAL’ ALLEN SAVES POINT

By Graeme Allison

WALSALL 1

Allen 87

AFC WIMBLEDON 1

Bugiel 70

RESCUE ACT: Taylor Allen levels for the Saddlers

PICTURES: Alamy

WALSALL boss Mat Sadler hailed his unique dead-ball weapon Taylor Allen after the defender’s late free-kick rescued a point for the leaders against promotion rivals AFC Wimbledon.

The left-sided centre-back and set-piece specialist curled home his eighth League goal of the season after 87 minutes – to go with seven assists – to keep Walsall top by a point.

It was the Saddlers’ fifth draw in a winless run of seven games and they are clinging on to top spot by a thread, but Sadler was happy to have a game-changer like Allen in his ranks.

“He’s brilliant, he’s so good,” Sadler said. “That dead ball is special, he’s got a fantastic left foot.

“He knows it’s a big moment and for those moments you want a player like that 1 Shots on target 4 9 Shots off target 5 3 Corners 3 1 Offside 4 9 Fouls conceded 11 1 Yellow Cards 3 0 Red Cards 0 43 Possession % 57 with personality and character, and that’s what he has running through him.

“We want athletes at the club and we want more people like Taylor Allen that have got a desire to improve and better themselves. He’s somebody I’ll always trust to go to war with.”

Allen’s strike cancelled out a fine 18-yard finish from Dons substitute Omar Bugiel as the second half opened up following a cagey first period.

“It was the least we deserved,” said Sadler, after a game witnessed by a crowd of 9,203, Walsall’s largest league crowd.

“I thought we came out really strongly in the second half and their goal came against the run of play a little bit.

“But then the subs we made a real impact on the game and it’s another point on the total. Not the three we wanted but another point in the right direction.

“And these points are so important at this stage of the season.”

The only real chance of a cagey first half was fashioned by Wimbledon as Alistair Smith played Marcus Browne in but Walsall keeper Sam Hornby rushed out to make a smart sprawling save.

The Dons wasted a good chance after the break, Browne side-footing wide before Walsall went close as Owen Goodman saved Charlie Lakin’s downward header.

But Wimbledon broke the deadlock after 70 minutes as Bugiel drilled home an unerring follow-up from 18 yards after Hornby denied Smith.

Hornby beat away a Smith long-ranger to keep Walsall in it and, with three minutes left, Allen stepped up to salvage a draw, curling home a free-kick into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Wimbledon slipped to fifth after the late leveller, but are still just two points off the automatic spots.

“My message to the boys is if we perform like that seven more times, I think we go very, very close,” said Dons boss Johnnie Jackson. “We know where we’re at and we have an unbelievable opportunity to finish the season strongly.

“There’s no gimmes in this league, no easy games, we’ve seen that with the results and we will continue to see that in the last seven games. There will still be teams that drop points, it’s the nature of this league, it’s so fiercely competed. “We soaked up a lot of pressure in our penalty box today even though our goalkeeper hasn’t had a lot to do.”

WALSALL: Hornby 6, McEntee 7, Okagbue 7, Allen 8, Asiimwe 7, Jellis 6 (Weir 83, 6), Stirk 7, Lakin 7 (Hall 66, 6), Gordon 7, Matt 6 (Amantchi 74, 6), Johnson 6 (Adomah 74, 6). Subs not used: Simkin, Daniels, Comley.

WIMBLEDON: Goodman 6, Harbottle 7 (Ogundere 77, 6), Lewis 7, Johnson 7, Reeves 6, Neufville 7, Maycock 6 (Ball 90+2), Smith 7, Tilley 7, Browne 6 (Sasu 76, 6), Stevens 6 (Bugiel 65, 7). Subs not used: Ward, Kelly, Foyo. BREAKTHROUGH: AFC Wimbledon’s Omar Bugiel celebrates