Bolton 3-1 Blues: A Game Too Far

The unrelenting fixture list continued as Blues faced another midweek game (our 8th in a row) with a trip to the Bolton’s to stadium.

Blues had been relentlessly plugging away, achieving 18 league games unbeaten stretching all the way back to November. Despite a depleted squad, tough opposition and high levels of fatigue we’ve managed to still at least come away with a draw and push onto the next one, and it shows the level of character as well as quality within the squad.

But this game was just one too far. With more injuries piling up following the weekend’s victory over Wycombe, we came up against the best league opposition we’ve faced all season by quite a distance.

With Allsop and Laird the latest to join the injury list, we lined up as follows: Peacock-Farrell, Gardner-Hickman, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane, Paik, Iwata, Dowell, Willumsson, Hansson, May. Hansson made his first start since returning from injury, and Stansfield returned to the bench following his injury against Bradford in the EFL Trophy.

Bolton came into the game in good form after sacking Ian Evatt and appointing Steven Schumacher, the man who led Plymouth to a League One title.

First half:

The game started even, Blues looked to get on the ball and control the game, but Bolton attacked with pace and purpose when they got onto the ball themselves. The first chance fell their way, as Osei-Tutu flew past Gardner-Hickman and Peacock-Farrell produced a low save to deny him.

Following that chance, Blues got ourselves on top, employing our patient probing style to unlock the Wanderer’s defence. 23 minutes in and we got our reward. Paik, TGH, Dowell and Willumsson combined to play Gardner-Hickman into a dangerous position out wide just outside the box. His pacey low cross evaded all except Emil Hansson, who tucked away and put us 1-0 ahead.

We looked well in control of the game, unable to break down a robust Bolton defence, but in control.

That was until the 40th minute. Bolton beat the Blues press and Klarer committed to try and cut out former Blues man Josh Dacres-Cogley’s through ball to John McAtee. I was impressed by the Bolton forward when they visited St. Andrews earlier this season. He didn’t take his chances, but had plenty of them and looked a threat throughout. This time he made no mistake. Opting to shoot instead of cutting it back to his teammate across the box, he fired low and hard and beat Peacock-Farrell at his near post and pulled the Trotters level. It was a poor goal to concede from a Blues point of view, the defence became far too stretched and BPF shouldn’t be beaten at his near post.

We went into half time level.

Half time: Bolton 1-1 Blues (Hansson)

What we needed from the second half was to re-establish control, to not concede early and see if we could stand strong defensively and see out a point like we have done in previous tough away games like Stockport back in January.

Unfortunately it took Bolton just 4 minutes to take the lead. Blues did not match their intensity after half time and were under pressure immediately. Gardner-Hickman picked up a yellow after being beaten again by Osei-Tutu, and Bolton had a wide free-kick. Morley’s delivery was quality, Peacock-Farrell didn’t come to claim and his defenders were unable to effectively deal with the danger. Cochrane won the first header but couldn’t get it clear, McAtee headed towards George Thomason and he nodded home.

The game had changed completely. Blues struggled to break forwards out of defence when on the ball and didn’t have the legs to deal with Bolton’s aggressive attacking approach. Gardner-Hickman committed two or three further fouls and was fortunate to not be sent off prior to his hasty withdrawal in favour of Alfons Sampsted. The substitute also found wing back Osei-Tutu a challenge to keep quiet.

15 minutes later the game was sealed. A long ball came forward to McAtee who won his duel with Ben Davies and flicked on to substitute Joel Randall. He ran directly at the heart of the Blues defence, Klarer was unable to intercept his cut back to Aaron Collins, Davies couldn’t get back goal side of his man in time to set himself, and Collins took one touch inside before finishing past Peacock-Farrell.

Blues rallied late on, but behind two goals, dead on our feet, the game was gone and Bolton employed smart game management to see the game out. A melee sparked at the end with the referee booking 5 players in total as tempers ran high, but nobody could argue that Bolton were the deserved winners on the night.

It felt like one game too far, these players have done an incredible job to go on an 18 league game unbeaten run through horrible fixture periods over Christmas and into the new year, but in a way we’re a victim of our own success. Progression through the FA Cup and to the final of the Vertu Trophy meant extra games, and Chris Davies’ mantra of the next game being the most important means that rotation only really occurs once necessary. We’ve several key players out, Allsop, Laird, Anderson and Stansfield (who made a cameo off the bench) were sore misses, and those who remain have played a lot of football.

It was always going to catch up with us at some point, and in a way I’m glad that it was against a very impressive Bolton side. There’s no doubt that Schumacher has rejuvenated that team and got them playing some great football. If we have to lose at some point, I’d rather it be against a side like that than a less impressive side employing a smash and grab. We were well beaten and sometimes, you have to put your hands up and say fair play to Bolton. I’d like to especially call out McAtee and Osei-Tutu who were absolutely fantastic for the home side.

But we’ve still got more games in this intense run until we get a rest, and now we have to put this behind us and put in a better performance when we welcome Lincoln City to St. Andrews for the second time this season. Lincoln aren’t a bad side themselves and it took a Dykes worldie for us to progress through the FA Cup when we met them in the third round. Hopefully we can witness some more magic on Saturday to start a new unbeaten run, one that may last until all is said and done in May.

Keep Right On.

Full time: Bolton 3-1 Blues (Hansson)

Ratings

Starting XI

Bailey Peacock-Farrell: 5

I don't want to bash BPF too badly, but he really didn't have a good game. Once Bolton had equalised it turned the tide of the game, and whilst he wasn't helped by his defence, he really can't be conceding at his near post like that. I also felt he should've come to claim the initial ball into the box from the freekick that lead to their 2nd goal. Again not helped by his defence and he's not the main reason we conceded the second goal, but something Allsop does very well is being brave and coming off his goal line to claim crosses - I'm not sure that we concede the first nor the second if Allsop played. Although he shouldn't shoulder all of the blame, Bailey gets a lower rating for that reason. I hope he can bounce back and put in strong performances in the coming weeks as we'll need him with Allsop looking to be out for at least a few games. Criticism post match is fair, but as fans we need to get behind him in the stadium - he'll know his mistakes and having his own crowd on his back from the off won't help.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman: 6

Taylor has been superb this season, covering a variety of positions and this time in the absence of Laird, he was instructed to cover right back. He combined well with his team mates for our goal and delivered a really good cross to Hansson, but he struggled to deal with Osei-Tutu all game and was fortunate to not receive a red card before his withdrawal.

Christoph Klarer: 6

I don't think Klarer was directly at fault for any of the goals, but his overcommitment left Davies with a tough task to cover lots of space for Bolton's 1st. Nobody really had a great night, and Klarer was no exception.

Ben Davies: 6

Davies did his best for the first goal, was a little pedestrian for the second and was well beaten by McAtee and Collins for the third. If I'm going to criticise the goalkeeper (who's received a lot of stick online), I have to equally criticise Davies for his part in the defeat. That's not to say he was shocking, on the ball he was solid as ever, but he's generally been a stalwart at the back and I thought he got exposed a bit too easily against Bolton.

Alex Cochrane: 6

Cochrane was another who is usually very solid but struggled against the Trotters. Although I thought Bolton looked most dangerous down the Blues right, Cochrane was beaten down his side a few times as well. One of the ever-presents who might need a rest if possible.

Paik Seung-Ho: 7

One thing that didn't really change was the quality of Paik and Iwata. They did lose control following the Bolton equaliser, but we still finished the game with 57% possession and I thought Paik just about edged his counterpart in quality on the ball on this occasion.

Tomoki Iwata: 6

Like Paik, Tomoki controlled the game well first half but lost that control following the equaliser. Both still had okay games, Paik just edged it for me but I don't think we can attribute this loss to the fault of the midfield, unlike perhaps the Charlton defeat where I felt they were nullified by their opposition.

Kieran Dowell: 6

I thought Dowell had a solid game and I was surprised to see him withdrawn when he was. Far from his best, but still showed how well he's settled in when playing his part in Hansson's goal and showing other sparks of creativity.

Willum Þór Willumsson: 6

Willum arguably had a bigger impact than Dowell with a lovely weighted pass to set up TGH for his cross, but I thought he would be withdrawn instead of Dowell. Willum has quality on the ball but when he struggles to show it, his lack of mobility really shows and it hinders us out of possession whereas I feel that Dowell's superior mobility helps him to contribute more in the defensive aspect when neither are playing their best football.

Emil Hansson: 7 - Man of the Match

Picking a man of the match was tough, but Emil gets it for his goal. I thought the winger had a solid if not spectacular game, and I'm still convinced there's more to come from him. Hopefully the goal and his gradual return to full fitness will spark a purple patch for the Swedish winger.

Alfie May: 5

Alfie really hasn't taken advantage of Stansfield's absence and is still yet to score since his brace at Wigan. I'll always commend his work rate, but whereas in other games he's gotten himself into good positions and just missed chances, he was really quite anonymous against Bolton. He might've just missed his opportunity to stake a claim for the first team spot if Stansfield is fully fit and ready to go for Saturday.

Subs

Alfons Sampsted: 5

Like the man he replaced, Sampsted struggled to contain an electric Osei-Tutu. Sampsted really hasn't played much football this year, despite looking bright in the moments he has had on the pitch. I'd like to see him given a chance if Laird's absence is longer than ideal as I think he's more naturally suited to right back than Gardner-Hickman, who can always fill in elsewhere and provide us with fresh legs from the bench in a multitude of positions.

Luke Harris: 6

I actually thought Harris looked decent coming off the bench. The bar wasn't high with his teammates struggling, but given how the game had gone, his usual tidiness on the ball stood out to me more. Maybe Harris can step up for the run in, there's still time for his loan spell to be productive and positive.

Jay Stansfield: 6

It was great to see Stanno back, but the game had already swung too far in Bolton's favour and he struggled to make much of an impact. He did look ready to play though, so with May out of form, he might find himself starting against Lincoln.

Lukas Jutkiewicz: 6

Jukey provided a physical threat when it was clear we weren't going to be able to play through Bolton, but his impact was still limited and he couldn't turn the game around in his 25-30 minutes of game time.

Krystian Bielik: 6

Bielik replaced Iwata for the closing stages. He's struggled for a place with the form of Ben Davies being so strong, but perhaps with tiredness really showing through he'll be considered for a start either at the back or in midfield. He's still a player of ridiculous quality to have on our bench in League One.