Bolton v Wycombe ……match thread

Theres a lot to like about Wycombe on paper. They're underdogs who get the very best of the thier teams. They have a likable rock n' roll manager who tends to speak sense.

But they are hard to watch and they will ruin games with constant time wasting.

But a lot of thier antics can be nipped in the bud by not giving them a lead. They wont time waste at 1 down.

First home game of the season is always a special day.

I don’t quite understand this fear we seem to have of Wycombe. Apparently, they are giants who are going to run all over us and we have to be tough.

Of course, we have to be tough – we should be tough every match. They have a decent record in recent years, particularly against us but we are not a bad team and are capable of beating anyone in this league if we perform.

By the sounds of the manager’s talk, Kieran Lee may be left out which, hopefully, will mean a start for Bodvarsson. I like him as he is intelligent and can hold the ball and bring other players into the game.

Other than that, I would expect the same starting eleven.

I would, though, like to see more positive substitutions. I was disappointed last week that Kachunga somehow got on the pitch ahead of Sadlier. Sadlier is much more likely to provide a spark.

Anyway, I am very hopeful for today – let’s put the Wycombe curse behind us and score and win against them.

I go for a 2-0 win.

No sub goalie yet again 🤔

One can only assume that Evatt has a plan with one of his outfield players replacing Trafford if the worst happens!!🤔🤔😬😬


No Charles and still Bod starts from the bench
Just hope Baka has a blinder

COYWM
Let’s do this⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

A very good match.

Two sides committed to attack. We could, and probably should, have scored 3 or 4 more but how Wycombe failed to score in the 1st half was amazing. They hit the post and missed 2 really good chances when the centre of our defence went to sleep.

It was a pretty even start with both teams going for it until the 15th minute when Bradley brilliantly broke down the right, cut into the box and teed up Dempsey to place the ball into the corner of the net. A real quality goal.

Wycombe had a couple of chances to equalise when first Vokes mis-controlled the ball when clean through and then they hit the post with a shot from the right. In both cases, we were wide open at the back. Our central defenders seemed static and just could not mark their men. But we got away with it and then Afolayan broke and played a wonderful pass into the run of Morley who scored excellently. Another top quality goal.

We escaped again just before half time when their guy headed over when totally unmarked 10 yards out – a bad miss.

We had the ball in the net from a corner in additional time but the referee had obviously decided in advance that he was going to give a foul as it was just a normal push and shove in the box.

So a really good first half – some lovely play and somehow a clean sheet.


Second half, Wycombe set off strong and threw ball after ball into the box. We somehow cleared them but it was not very convincing. A word here for Trafford who was excellent in catching high balls. He came for them and made sure he got them.

After a fair amount of pressure from Wycombe, we broke well and Bakayoko excellently played Dempsey through to score again. At this stage we could relax!

The final half hour could easily have produced more goals. Dempsey got through but the keeper saved, Bodvarsson had a strong shot blocked and in the last minute John was through but somehow the keeper saved.

As I said, a really good match. Should probably have bee 7-3 but well played.

Bit of praise for Gareth Ainsworth. The Wycombe manager stayed on the pitch at the end of the match and shook the hand of every Bolton player as they left the pitch. Excellent sportsmanship.


Marks:-

Trafford - 8 Very good. Caught numerous high balls with confidence.

Bradley - 9 Another top performance. Set up the first goal and was always involved

Jones - 7 Good steady performance

Santos - 6 His lack of marking left a lot to be desired and he lost most high balls

Johnston - 6 The centre of defence was missing at times through a lack of awareness of the opposition

Iredale - 7 Good first performance. Wycombe had a bit too much space in the 1st half. Needs to practice shooting as he could/should have scored today.

Williams - 7 Very good. Won the midfield battle

Morley - 8 Another very good performance and a high class goal

Dempsey - 9 2 goals, could have been 4. Very good breaking from midfield.

Afolayan - 9+ MOM. Brilliant. He was a constant problem for the Wycombe defence. A brilliant pass to set Morley up for goal no 2. He got little help from the referee until late on when he fell over twice and got fouls.

Bakayoko - 6 Had difficulty retaining the ball but set Dempsey up excellently for goal no 3.

Bodvarsson - 6 A couple of good moves. Needs to get some game time (hopefully on Tuesday).

Sadlier - 6 Came on at right wing back. Not quite his position

Kachunga - 6 Good first 2 minutes and then….

John

Thomason

Just got home what a fantastic day out 3-0 against one of the favourites for the league and in all honesty it could and should have six it was that easy. I was a bit surprised that our strikers didn’t score but we can’t be to critical onwards and upwards COYWM