Sheff Wed V Bolton........ Match thread

Great result!!

Well done lads!!

Wooohooo!!

Not biased whatsoever Mac... I think in Lennon we have a manager that will bring in decent players however unattractive our little club seems to be at the moment. With all this gartside stuff in the media, it wouldn't surprise me that the potential new signings are having their agents advising them to give us a wide berth due to current events led by the tabloids pointing their finger at a Gartside etc... (Not good)

I totally believe Lennon will attract the right players for our club!

regardless of Gartsides mishaps!

I think that in any other industry Gartside would be suspended from duties until he is either in the clear or charged but your right, it really is putting a downer on a fantastic win
Could have been 4 nil up by half time from all accounts, but thanks to a wonderful save by Lonergan at the death from Nihui, it should have ended 2-2 so well done lads

A thoroughly good day out. Sat in sunshine in the park before KO, sat in the ground with stewards allowing standing at the back but insisting on sitting at the front, sat watching the Wanderers cruise in to a lead and sat on the edge of my seat as Sheff wed fought an attritional battle to get back into it! In the end they were fought off by some spirited defending and some aggressive counter attacking complemented by some skilled ball retetnion towards the end. We would not have won this earlier in the season or even drawn.

We won because NL stole a march on Sheff Wed with his team selection. He played three centre halves at the back and pushed Ream up the field. Vela was advanced into midfield and we pressed them back in their half for the first twenty minutes. We almost needed binoculars or telescope so far away from us was the action.  And before we knew it we were in the lead. Vela dispossessed an opponent on the edge of the box, slid the ball to Feeney who fired in to the far post.

We had lots of corners and Heskey was proving to be a good upfront target. Craig D was less effective but he did hassle the opposition around the bye lines. Pratley began quite awkwardly misplacing a few passes but as the game wore on got better and better and gave another man of the match performance. His goal was excellent. He advanced on to a Heskey flick on and seemed to score with confident ease.

Nothing however is ever made easy for long by the Wanderers and sporadically they began to threaten. Mills was having a really poor time of it, regularly letting headable balls bounce and it was always a relief if Lonergan went for aerial balls and got something on them. Suddenly they were level and this time an inarguable penalty surely? Dervite not for the only time in the game opted to play a ball in- field which he could have cleared and they broke back on his side, sweeping in a cross which everyone missed until Feeney brought an opponent down. Lonergan guessed the right way but the penalty was just too strong . They hadn't begun with much on the left but had begun to work out that Feeney was the defender over there. And it's not what he should be doing. NL took a gamble. It had paid off but the three at the back strategy come back to bite him when it depended upon Feeney.

The second half was strange. They battled away and made three substitutions. Despite the fact that Heskey was really struggling, Craig D ineffective and  the midfield getting overrun there was no recourse to Spearing, the obvious choice but for his possible sale, nor even Eidur until right at the end. There were lots of corners at both ends but with about twenty minutes to go we had two glorious chances to seal the points and spare the fans their anxieties. Vela, increasingly influential, slipped Craig D through but instead of firing first time he took a touch and allowed Westwood to close him out. Then even more glaringly Craig D missed a sitter of a header from a superb Feeney cross ( not often that can be said) . It was a replica of the goal he did score at home a few weeks ago but he got no power on the header and Westwood bloked it with ease. He should have buried it

By now it was a battle. Sheff Wed were on top but we kept playing the ball out of defence and they were resorting to some meaty tackles or pull backs to thwart our breakaways. It wasn't easy. Vela twice got caught in possession but he also got flattened by an opponent who was duly sent off for about the fourth or fifth bookable offence. This last could have been straight red. Credit to Vela for keeping going. Even more credit to Pratley for the discipline of his game after having been unjustly booked ( unless he said something) for a recovery tackle which had been near perfect

6 Minutes added time. Where did the ref get that from? We hadn't made any subs until the last minute. And two huge scares. Yet another Mills blunder in the air saw an opponent escape him , much as at Norwich and several times since and his shot hit the bar. bounced down and was then converted by an offside player and right at the death Lonergan made a fabulous save clawing the ball out of the top corner. Eventually after 7 mins plus the ref blew for time. We had hung on! The lack of substitutions had been strange in the extreme but we got away with it. Some players had excelled. Others such as Danns were quietly effective but no more. Wheater had a fine game. He really does play like a centre half and his courage was there to see. But he was not alone there were lots of blocks and last ditch clearances and we deserved the point for the first twenty minutes and the spirit with which we repelled their attacks

Lonergan 8 ( that one save at the end made him deserving of an extra point), Dervite 7 Mills 5 Wheater 8 Ream 7  Vela 7 Pratley 9 Danns 6  Feeney 6 Heskey 6 Craig D 6