Norman’s late show earns Exiles a point against former club Walsall

Cameron Norman’s late header against his former club earned Newport a valuable point as they drew 1-1 at Walsall.

The right-back nodded home a corner with 12 minutes left to cancel out Isaac Hutchinson’s sweetly-struck first-half opener and inch the 19th-placed Exiles eight points clear of the bottom two.

Walsall missed an early chance when defender Joe Low found space in the box, but Newport keeper Nick Townsend came out to smother his shot.

The Saddlers took a deserved lead in the 32nd minute when the ball sat up nicely for Hutchinson to fire a fine first-time shot past Townsend from 20 yards.

Newport boss Graham Coughlan responded to his side’s lacklustre first-half showing with four half-time changes.

The Exiles improved as Walsall sat back and were level in the 78th minute when Norman got up to meet a deep corner at the back post to send a downward header past keeper Owen Evans.

Walsall, though, almost snatched victory, but Townsend produced a fine save from Tom Knowles’ 25-yard free-kick to leave the Saddlers winless in six league games and eight points off the play-offs.