Keates is lost for words at stalemate

DEAN Keates was dumbfounded after Walsall failed to win at Peterborough.

Keates, a double promotion winner with Posh as a player, should have enjoyed a triumphant return.

But he had to settle for a point after skipper Luke Leahy saw an 89th-minute penalty saved by Conor O’Malley, who redeemed himself after he sent Nicky Devlin tumbling.

The Irish keeper, making his first league start of the season, then produced a stunning double-save to keep out Andy Cook as Posh hung on.

Keates said: “If I’m honest I’m lost for words. It’s a draw that feels more like a defeat.

“Luke tucked away a penalty in the 94th minute when we beat Coventry a couple of weeks ago. We were all hoping it would be the same outcome again, but it wasn’t to be this time.

“There were chances galore even before we missed the penalty. We’ve had shots saved, others cleared off the line and wasted two free headers.

“I also felt there was a blatant foul on our goalkeeper for the Peterborough goal, but I don’t want to talk negatively because I got the reaction I wanted from the disastrous performance in our previous game at Bradford.

“There’s no doubt we deserved the three points, but we didn’t get them and I’m gutted about that.”

The two sides earlier exchanged goals around the interval.

Isaiah Osbourne headed Walsall ahead in first-half stoppage time with their first away league goal in two-and-a-half months.

But Posh responded as Ivan Toney struck for the 10th in as many games when heading in a Marcus Maddison corner two minutes into the second half.

Posh boss Steve Evans said: “I can’t defend a performance as poor as that.

“We asked for a reaction at half-time and we got that. Marcus put a corner right on the penny and we all know Ivan will score goals when he is given that service.

“There was no real quality from then on, but we went walkabout in the full-back position and that led to Walsall getting the penalty.

“Conor saved it and I said he would leave the stadium a hero, but we have to look at the whole 90 minutes.

“I’m sure Walsall will be questioning how they didn’t win, but it goes down as a point gained for us.”