Walsall boss Colin Lee was the happier of the two. "At least we have a point which will be disappointing for Watford who are playing at home," he said.
"Because of the financial situation of both clubs, neither of us can do anything about it and we have to work with what we've got."
That view was echoed by Watford boss Ray Lewington who felt all but two of his players wanted the ball in a disappointing first-half display.
"There are too many players who didn't want the ball, we're not making angles for it or calling for it," he said.
"We could have continued feeling sorry for ourselves and finished without any points, but at least we increased the tempo and gave it a go in the second half."
Watford had an early let off when Danny Hay blasted a clear-cut chance straight at keeper Alec Chamberlain.
At the other end, Scott Fitzgerald had a shot deflected wide and Bruce Dyer sent a glancing header adrift of the target.
Walsall took the lead after 39 minutes through a mistake by keeper Chamberlain. He went for a Zigor Aranalde throw-in when the ball was launched into the Watford penalty area but the keeper mispunched straight to Simon Osborn.
He headed back over the keeper and into the net despite Neil Cox's desperate attempt to clear.
Lewington's second-half substitutions, bringing on teenager Ashley Young and midfielder Micah Hyde, gave Watford their extra momentum and control in midfield.
After 60 minutes, a cross from Paul Devlin just eluded Danny Webber but Walsall defender Chris Baird, right behind the striker, seemed unable to avoid deflecting the ball into the back of his own net.