Radley Rambler wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:57 pm
One team looked fitter
One team looked like they wanted it more
One team could pass to their own men
One team didn't just hoof it aimlessly from the back on many occasions
One team broke in numbers (at least in the first half)
One team tested the opposition keeper on numerous occasions
That team wasn't us.
I'm not sure Bolton looked fitter. They started at a million miles an hour but once we'd weathered the opening 30 minutes I was disappointed we didn't go on to win, as Bolton looked out on their feet at times. They did have some good players on display though, which is why pre-match predictions of 6 or 7 nil seemed so ridiculous to me. Buckley, Chicksen, Lowe, Bridcutt, Hobbs, Wright etc bring some serious experience with them, much of it above L1 level.
But we didn't play well. It is alarming how we lose our shape when the opposition have the ball - the number of times that we let Bolton advance from the halfway line to the edge of our area without even looking like making a challenge is a big worry. It's all very well our forwards pressing the ball, but the midfield need to join in!
That's two games in a row of seemingly aimless hoofing too. And the defence looked sloppy at times. That pass across his own backline from Dickie late on was utterly criminal, and the fullbacks had a pretty torrid time. I've previously been impressed by Cadden's attacking instincts, but his crossing last night was consistently poor (as well as being caught too far up the pitch whenever we lost the ball).
I don't see what others rate in Gorrin - he just seems caught out of position a lot. Likewise Woodburn, who didn't get involved enough. Henry was off the pace, Fosu was trying to do too much himself (and the dive was embarrassing, but he wasn't alone in that). Jake Wright had Taylor in his pocket all night. Forde gave the ball away on multiple occasions after his introduction, and Agyei's contribution (or lack of) is probably best forgotten.
Eastwood played well, thank god.
In the end I was reasonably happy to take the point, and indeed both teams seemed to have settled for it with about ten minutes to go. I still had the nagging feeling that Bolton were going to snatch a late winner, and we couldn't have complained too much if they had.
Was the attendance misreported? Were there really only 6,000 home fans there? Very odd.