THE SADDLERS have fell to a 2-1 defeat in a rather lack-lustre encounter on a chilly December night in Oldham.

The first opening came on two minutes when Matty Fryatt fed Jorge Leitao who fired over from a good position after he found some space in amongst The Latics' back-line.

Ten minutes later and some good defending by Anthony Gerrard, who started in place of the injured Steve Staunton, saw him head clear a dangerous ball in from the right as Paul Warne lurked behind him.

Gerrard then blocked a Chris Porter effort after he was cleverly picked out by Andy Liddell.

With the home side starting to carve out more openings, Joe Murphy was caught in no mans land following a cross but was relieved to see Guy Branston's header from a good position fly just over.

The game was in real need of a spark as the first half wore on, with the 177 loyal Saddlers' supporters who had made the trip willing their side on.

Efforts on goal were few and far between for Paul Merson's men, however Daniel Fox did try his luck following a free-kick after a foul on Eric Skora, but his long-range drive was kept out by Chris Day in The Latics' goal.

The home side duly took the lead just past the half-hour when a quick free-kick caught The Saddlers napping and as the ball was fed in to Warne, he mis-kicked his initial effort but was still able to retrieve the situation by crossing into the danger zone where some inept marking left Porter alone in front of goal and he was able to head past the edposed Murphy.

With time running out at the end of the half, an Oldham free-kick deflected off Fox but was pushed over by Murphy and the resulting corner was cleared to safety.

Skora was replaced by Ishmel Demontagnac at half-time and Walsall started the second period by attempting to increase the pressure, but still the lack of a killer final ball was making life all too easy for the home side.

On the hour, a quick free-kick gave Leitao a shooting chance but his low effort was easy for Day. After a good chance went begging at the other end, Paul Merson decided to replace player-coach, Simon Osborn with Kris Taylor, whilst shortly afterwards Dary Taylor made way for James Constable.

The Latics managed to double their advantage with around 20 minutes to go when a break down the left after a Saddlers' attack had broken down, saw Warne on hand at the far post to head home. To be fair, it was a rare effort on goal in the second half for Ronnie Moore's side but gave Walsall a real mountain to climb.

However, within two minutes we were back in it as we were thrown a lifeline when a free-kick was cleared as far as Demontagnac who crossed the ball back into the area and Kris Taylor was able to lash home the loose ball with a low shot .

After Leitao saw yellow for a foul, a mis-directed header from Ian Roper put Liddell in but he was denied by the alert Murphy who raced off his line to block.

In the closing stages, a low drive by Kris Taylor was deflected agonisingly wide and led to a series of corners as The Saddlers, in front of their travelling fans, pushed for an equaliser. Alas it wasn't to be as our pressure ended when the referee gave a free-kick against Gerrard for a foul and with it went our chance of getting anything out of the game.