Bolton Wanderers vs. Wigan - e-Football Review

Article by e-Bolton Wanderers Correspondent Alan Houghton

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Early arrivals to the Reebok were treated to the flying message from Old Trafford “Wrong One- Moyes Out”. Has Sir Alex Ferguson got his pilot’s licence now he’s retired? The pre-match debate in the Fanzone was fuelled by the pie, peas and gravy on special offer. Most bets were on a draw. Wigan have been on a great run since Uwe Rossler took over and are well placed for the Play-offs. The team selection produced the usual surprises as Chung-Yong Lee, Liam Trotter and Rob Hall came in for Neil Danns, Mark Davies and Joe Mason, who weren’t even substitutes. Encouragingly for the future, three youngsters, Andy Kellett, Oscar Threlkeld and Andy Robinson, were on the bench.

Wigan were surprisingly poor and ineffective, especially in the first half. They had the majority of the possession but Bolton’s battling midfield and defence meant they did nothing with it. Bolton had all the chances as Rob Hall and Lucas Jutkiewciwz brought good saves from the popular Ali Ai-Habsi before the two combined to put us one up. Rob Hall curled in a teasing cross from a free kick and Lucas Jutkiewciwz stretched his leg to toe poke it in. Both sets of fans were singing the praises of Ali Al-Habsi, claiming he was a White/Wiganer and that he loved/hated Bolton/Wigan as appropriate. It was another bright start from the Wanderers. Could we keep it up for the second half?

The answer was a resounding“YES”. In the second half, it was Bolton Wanderers versus Ali Al-Habsi as he pulled off a string of saves from Tim Ream twice, Rob Hall, Jay Spearing and David Wheater. Leon Barnett was lucky to stay on the pitch as he pulled Liam Trotter back on the edge of the penalty box when he was through on goal. There was no other defender and yet the referee, Darren Drysdale appeared to only book him for repeated fouls! Then incredibly, in the last few minutes we nearly lost it. Callum McManaman got down the left wing and put a low cross in, which found late substitute Nicky Powell who took his goal really well. Then Alex Baptiste gave away yet another penalty in added time and it was left to Adam Bogdan to rescue us. He managed to outfox Jordi Gomez and pulled off a brilliant save. Dougie Freedman wasn’t too chuffed when Alex Baptiste gave away the penalty at Yeovil, so I can only imagine what he said this time.

It would have been an injustice if we had lost this match as we dominated for the first 89 minutes. Adam Bogdan was a spectator until the last minute and then he was called upon to save the penalty. But if you don’t take your chances, then victory is not guaranteed. Football can sometimes be a strange game and this one falls into that category. Both managers will be wondering how they didn’t win or lose this one. For Bolton it was another encouraging performance against one of the better teams in the Championship and now only one defeat in the last ten matches. I still need convincing about Liam Trotter’s qualities as they remain well-hidden and for a big bloke, he’s remarkably lightweight in the tackle. The result augurs well for Wigan in that they got something out of a match when they did not play well. Good luck to them for the play-offs.

For Bolton, now it’s a Yorkshire treble, with Huddersfield, Doncaster and Barnsley coming up.

I hope that the trouble which kicked off after the match is not a sign of things to come. The match had been played in an excellent spirit and before the match, Wanderers fans had joined with Wigan fans in a charity walk for Prostrate Cancer from the DW Stadium to the Reebok.

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