BWFC v Wolves.... Match Thread

Football is so painful for us Bolton fans why can't we bang one in from 30 yards out or is it just that we don't get the luck ? . I think that's it for now just make sure we stay up and keep hold of NL. Sorry for my rant five minutes ago but we was above forest till that goal went in

Frustrating though the last minute screamer was over the whole game we had two moments of Zach Clough to thank for it not being, as it would have been earlier in the season a dismal home defeat. In truth we didn't play very well and they had the initiative most of the time without creating very much. We did defend well and especially when Moxey came on we shored up the left hand side very well. Pratley as ever had been our most energetic midfielder but defensively we didn't miss him.

Of course we started as sluggishly as at Rotherham. Dervite and Lonergan repeated their dithering inertia from Tuesday and conceded a goal in its way very similar to Rotherham's second . Dervite trod water, Lonergan hesitated and then failed to stand tall and Dick, I think snuck through to rifle a gift goal. He had also done something similar when he beat Lonergan to the punch at Molineux. Lonergan will be pleased to see the last of Wolves. He may well not have started this game after his midweek showing had Bogdan stayed fit. I doubt he could have done much with the equaliser though. His distribution was at times quite terrible.

In midfield Trotter did well I thought until fading late on. Danns was too inclined to turn into trouble or let balls run past him for comfort today and both he and Pratley had difficulty moving the ball forward. Feeney made a few crosses and busied himself to no particular advantage. Le Fondre held the ball up well and had a promising debut possibly being fouled away from his best chance late in the first half

Clough's two goals were brilliant. A perfect free kick followed by a neat turn and shot in the box. What a prospect he is. He oozes intelligence on the ball. He perhaps lacked a little defensively and was sensibly subbed. I think his partnership with Le Fondre showed lots of promise. Otherwise Vela was the standout player. Even when beaten his recovery play was excellent and he is so much better going forward than most of his colleagues in midfield or defence

at the death I think we had a chance to close the game out in the corner. But generally in the last thirty other than on the left we just didn't keep the ball well enough and fell too deep out of possession. It was probably a fair result for a neutral but ultimately a disappointing one for us and leaves us hovering only just above the dogfight with a negligible play off chance. But if we keep NL and our injured players return we should finish strongly. At present we are hanging on

Lonergan 5 Vela 7 Wheater 7 Dervite 3 Ream 7 Pratley 5 Danns 5 Trotter 6 Feeney 6 Le Fondre 7 Clough 9 Moxey 7

What a sickener to concede so late.

Looking at the match overall, despite Wolves’ possession in the second half, Lonergan had nothing to do apart from pick the ball out of the net twice.

We set off poorly. Ream slipped in the first minute (one of many slips) and they were clear on the right. Thanks to Wheater we got out of that problem but then Dervite just went to sleep and let a ball go over him and Dicko got goalside to run on and score. A really poor goal to concede. Just 3 minutes gone and we were struggling.

We could not get going in those early minutes but credit to the team we eventually got into the game and dominated the remaining 30 minutes of the first half.

Pratley won a fortuitous free kick when he seemed to have pushed the ball too far and also was already on the way down when he was tackled. Zac Clough put a wonderful free kick into the far corner of the net. A real quality goal. He then repeated the trick when Ream got clear on the left and pulled the ball back for Clough to make space and again score well.

At half time, we were deservedly ahead.

Second half, though, we just could not get going. Wolves had most of the ball but were no danger but we needed to control the ball instead of some of the aimless clearances that we were doing.

Le Fondre made a chance with a fine turn and shot which the Wolves goalie saved well but chances were few and far between, as were Wolves’ chances.

We seemed to have won the points despite some frantic defending but Dervite and Danns made a hash of a challenge leaving Henry clear 25 yards out to rocket the ball in.

Absolute sickening but it does highlight a lack of control in team.


Lonergan    - 6 Absolutely nothing to do. Despite Wolves having a load of possession, I can’t think of anything on target other than the 2 goals which he had no chance with.

Vela    - 6 Got caught a few times but still looks a class act.

Wheater    - 8 Won practically everything, highlighted by a crunching tackle in the first couple of minutes.

Dervite    - 4 Sleepy. Caught out for the first goal, partly to blame for the equaliser and loads of poor passes and slips throughout the game.

Ream    - 5 Started in the first minute with a slip which Wheater rescued him from and many slips and missed tackles throughout. Untypical of him. I know it’s not wholly his fault but our throw-ins are pathetic and we give the ball away 90% of the time.

Danns    - 6 Steady but caught, along with Dervite for the equaliser. Tries too many pirouette turns and gets caught in a lot of them.

Pratley    - 6 Hard work – nothing spectacular. Unfortunate injury. How many players are we going to miss through injury?

Trotter    - 7 Steady and some decent passes but his place is mainly too deep for my liking.

Clough    - 9 Excellent again. Amazing goals. Ran out of breath in the end which is not surprising. Two games and two star performances.

Feeney    - 5 Final ball is still not good enough for me. He and Hall need shooting for messing up possession in the last minute.

Le Fondre    - 7 A very promising performance. He looked dangerous throughout. I have high hopes that he will score a few goals for us.

Hall    - 5 A few good touches but he and Feeney made a complete mess of possession at the corner flag in the 94th minute.

Moxey    - 6 Much better than the start of the season. Only complaint is that towards the last few minutes he insisted of quickly passing the ball upfield when a bit of care and caution could have seen us through.
    
    
Manager    - 7 It’s a hard job at the minute getting a side together with so many injuries.
He somehow needed to get the side to keep possession in the second half when we just continually lost it.

Just seen the goal on you tube and what I can't work out is why did nobody get in front of him?. Great strike so it was but when you get the room to hit it what do you expect. I just hope we don't fall away now and just end up staying up. Question for everybody how long has NL signed a contract for and will he stay if he gets no help with getting players in?. Now on to Wednesday and Liverpool let's hope for a great game and maybe you never know.

Dougie has replaced him! Good luck to them...

What I want to know is, was there any need to water the pitch on Saturday before the game? My garden in Blackrod was saturated on Saturday morning, and although the pitch has far better drainage, I can't for one minute think it actually needed watering following the amount of rain that came down over Friday night.

As for injuries, why is it the more influential players that are getting injured. Could it be they are putting in more effort than the others? eg. Pratley v Trotter. As for Pratley fading, I think he has been getting better and better with each match barring a bit of an off day against Rotherham. We were a poorer side once he had gone off on Saturday.

What exactly does Trotter and for that matter Feeney bring to the table? Both's theme tune could be "Busy doing nothing"........

We're busy doin' nothin'
Workin' the whole day through
Tryin' to find lots of things not to do
We're busy goin' nowhere
Isn't it just a crime
We'd like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time

Trotter is a defensive midfielder who never tackles anyone and couldn't catch a cold even if he tried and Feeney is a winger who won't take anyone on and hardly ever gets a decent cross in. They are two of our weakest links.

Dervite had a very poor game, he was at fault in part for both goals, and for someone who Marc Iles said (when he signed) was comfortable on the ball, his passing stats are awful at 61.4% for the game, the worst in the team apart from Lonergan That in comparison to Clough who had a 90.9% success rate.