One moment late in the second half summed up this match. Walsall, shackled both by a muscular Milton Keynes side and their own 4-5-1 system, were trying to at last mount some pressure on the Dons goal. They worked the ball out to Matty Fryatt wide on the right. With teammates arriving in force in the box he looked up - and lifted his cross over them all. Zigor Aranalde then busily retrieved the ball on the left - and promptly plonked his cross into the crowd behind the goal. It was that sort of day - error-strewn and entertainment-free. The working conditions - bobbly pitch, strong wind - were difficult. And no-one of a creative bent mastered them. Crosses hit the first defender. Players strayed offside. More than one ball departed the stadium and the first goalless draw at Bescot since November 2003 took rock-solid root. There were positives for Walsall. They are unbeaten in four games and their defence, fortified by Ian Roper's longawaited return to form, made it back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season. But this was a missed opportunity. Paul Merson stuck with the formation that worked so well at Bristol City. He had pledged to keep with the 11 that excelled down there. True, nobody deserved to be dropped. But only the most selfabsorbed of players could have taken umbrage at making way for the creative flair of Merson or the 12-goals-in-16-starts incision of Fryatt. Those two were unleashed only in the last half-hour. Too late. The match had long been crying out for Merson's vision and, against central defenders of considerable bulk but little pace, Fryatt's speed. Just occasionally during a barren afternoon were the goalkeepers bothered. Darren Wrack, in the first half, and Jorge Leitao, 10 minutes from time, forced Matt Baker to make good low saves. Joe Murphy dealt with a couple of long-range efforts but was not called upon in the Dons' two most dangerous moments. Five minutes before the break Izale McLeod was tripped by Neil Emblen but referee Lee Probert bafflingly awarded no penalty. Five minutes after it Wade Small darted into the box and was about to pull the trigger when Roper arrived with a wonderful tackle. Top defending, that. But the best moment of the afternoon, by a mile, arrived 40 minutes later. The final whistle. WALSALL (4-5-1): Murphy 7; Wright 5, ROPER 8, Emblen 7, Aranalde 6; D Taylor 6, K Taylor 7, Osborn 7 (Fryatt 55, 6), Surman 6 (Merson 62, 6), Wrack 6; Leitao 7. Subs: Coleman, Bennett, Broad. MILTON KEYNES (4-4-2): Baker; Herve (Palmer, 82), Pensee-Bilong, Oyedele, Crooks; Small (Kamara,66), Chorley, Harding, Lewington; McCleod, Platt. Subs: Smart, Edds, Rizzo. Referee: L Probert (Gloucs). | 
