Pre-season fixtures 2017

[malcd1]

In the first half, Marc Iles was most impressed with the lad who was released from Shaff United, Connor Hall.

Wanderers had made great play of the fact Parkinson was picking a youthful side but the first-half team actually had plenty of experience in Mark Howard, Mark Little, Dorian Dervite, Adam Le Fondre and Chris Taylor.

It was young striker Connor Hall who proved the pick of the bunch, though, his energy and pace keeping the Arbroath back line on their toes throughout.

The 19-year-old arrived at the back end of last season on trial from Sheffield United and seems to have a physical presence about him which sets him out above the rest.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Match reports: BN • BWFC

Line-ups:
(0-60m, 4-4-2 diamond): Howard (off at HT); Little, Dervite, Brockbank, Lonsdale; Earing; C.Taylor, King; Le Fondre (c); Hall, Tabakovic.
(60-90m, 4-2-3-1): Alnwick (on at HT); Darby, Wheater, Beevers, A.Taylor; Karacan, Pratley (c); White, Vela, Buckley; Madine.

Goals: Le Fondre 32 (p) 1-0, Doris 33 (p) 1-1, Oggie 52 (og) 2-1

Parky (source: BWFC):

It was a good game. We pieced a team together for the first 60 minutes with the young lads and a few senior players and I thought they worked very hard. It was disappointing to concede a penalty like we did after taking the lead but we’ve come through unscathed. It’s a good night and a good workout on a decent surface and we enjoyed the game.

It’s always good to get a win, right back to our first game last year on tour in Denmark. The boys are in good spirits because they are enjoying where we are staying. The training’s been good and they’ve worked very hard. The lads who played 60 minutes did that on the back of a very tough day in training yesterday. It’s important that we stretch them physically and get them ready for the start of the season. We wanted to give Alfie some extra minutes in his legs. It was a great run from him to get the penalty, the timing of his runs are always excellent.

There is no-one you want more in that situation to take a penalty than Alfie. It’s always good for a striker, whether it’s a penalty or not, to get a goal.

Haris [Tabakovic] has worked hard. It’s a learning curve for him as he’s come over from Switzerland. He’s getting used to the players and training and has fitted in well.

We’re pleased with Connor [Hall]. We had him in on trial with David Lee’s Under-23s group. We made a decision to give him a development contract because he’s gone down to the Conference with Woking and done alright. He’s young, he’s hungry, he wants to run in behind and he’s shown a great enthusiasm. He was very unlucky not to score tonight, the keeper’s made a good save against him. And second half he’s in amongst it to create that second goal.

It’s good to have Connor and all the other youngsters with us for a week. We can learn about them and they can learn about the expectations of playing with senior players and against men. The lads who have come up through the academy like Jack Earing, Cole Lonsdale, Ryan White and Harry Brockbank have played in Under-23s football. The physicality against sides like Arbroath and Chorley is different. It’s a different type of game and they’re learning that. The only way you learn it is by playing men’s football.

Fil [Morais] has had a slight problem with his knee since day one. He’s been working hard in the swimming pool. It’s frustrating for him as he did a lot of work in the off-season to maintain his fitness levels but at the moment he hasn’t trained. Derik has a tight Achilles tendon. Nothing too serious but at this stage of the season it’s not worth taking a risk with anyone.

It’s good to see the Bolton supporters up here in Scotland supporting us tonight. It’s probably a new experience for a lot of them, coming to Arbroath. It’s another ground that they can tick off, like ourselves.

Friday will be another step up for us. Dundee are a bigger stature of club than Arbroath. It will be a good game, they have signed a lot of players and we’re looking forward to it.

[TANGODANCER]

Good to see our manager taking time to tell of his ideas and plans and report progress personally. A good feeling seems to be already in place at the playing end of the club. Let's hope the other end follow suit.

[Little Green Man]

Arbroath highlights

[scotsman_in_hawaii]

Hello there - Here are a few snaps from last night's pre-season friendly.

We had a bit of a make shift team throughout, but a good match and I hope all the Bolton Fans who made the long trip get home safe and enjoy their time in Scotland.

Cheers

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotsman_ ... 3354687414

[TANGODANCER]

That all looked ( from the highlights) like Arbroath are no bad side. nothing at stake and trialling quite a few, but a useful look at it all. To be fair, all I remember is names like Arbroath, Dunfermline, Hamilton Accademicals and Cowdenbeath etc, from the old days of Sports Report on the radio when I thought we were called Bolton Wanderers Nil..

[Worthy4England]

Hello there - Here are a few snaps from last night's pre-season friendly.

We had a bit of a make shift team throughout, but a good match and I hope all the Bolton Fans who made the long trip get home safe and enjoy their time in Scotland.

Cheers

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotsman_ ... 3354687414

Thank you good Sir.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Dundee warming up for us with a 5-2 defeat to a bunch of kids. Quite a large bunch of kids...

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/du ... ndly-match

[Worthy4England]

^^ I reckon Ally had us in for 70% of them...

[TANGODANCER]

Supers two up at half time against Dundee; Madine (yes, that right) and Vela. Sammi playing and commentary sounds very positive.

[TonyDomingos]

Starting XI -

Alnwick, Darby, Wheater, Beevers, A.Taylor, Karacan, Pratley, Ameobi, Vela, Buckley, Madine

[TonyDomingos]

Starting XI -

Alnwick, Darby, Wheater, Beevers, A.Taylor, Karacan, Pratley, Ameobi, Vela, Buckley, Madine

(46) Just the two changes for Bolton at half-time. Howard replacing Alnwick in net and Chris Taylor replacing Ameobi.

[TANGODANCER]

Nine changes and the homers get a gaol back, springing the offside trap. Mark Howard making wonder saves..apparently..

[TANGODANCER]

2-1 us at full time.

[Little Green Man]

Good first half after a slowish start. Two excellent goals, the first coming from a long pass forward from Beevers and the second was set up by Madine and Ameobi. Buckley came off at half time and we seemed to sit back a bit and had to soak up a few corners. It got a bit niggly for a couple of minutes then PP made another 9 substitutions and after that it all went rather pear-shaped. Two tremendous saves from Howard kept us in front.

[officer_dibble]

Did that young forward play again? Guy we signed from Sheff U who looks quick?

[Little Green Man]

Did that young forward play again? Guy we signed from Sheff U who looks quick?

He did. He had one chance towards the end but other than that he didn't really get a look in. Much of the last half hour was cheese to the first half's chalk.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Lineups, for the record:

0-60: Alnwick (Howard 45); Darby, Wheater, Beevers, A. Taylor; Karacan, Pratley; Ameobi (C. Taylor 45), Vela, Buckley; Madine.
60-90: Howard; Little, Dervite, Brockbank, Lonsdale; White, King, Derik, C.Taylor; Le Fondre, Tabakovic.

(I'm assuming more of a 4-4-2 with the second team, although it sounds like we were just defending anyway.)

Parky:
(source: BWFC.co.uk)

We’re pleased to win. We want to show that mentality to win and I felt we did that as a group. Even when the youngsters came on and we were in an unfamiliar shape, they stuck to the job and made sure we got the result. In the first half we played really well. We controlled the game for long periods and got two good goals. Dundee came into it a bit in the second half and it was always going to become a bit disjointed when we made wholesale changes. The lads who came on stuck at the task and helped us see the game through which is important.

We kept the ball really well, took the sting out of the game at times and looked a threat. The two widemen could both cut inside and cause them problems so it was a good benchmark for us in terms of fitness and certainly a progression.

We knew coming to Scotland that the players here would be ahead in their preparations. Their first competitive game is on Tuesday while their first league game is the week before us so they’re right up to speed and it was a difficult game. Sometimes when you go abroad into Europe in pre-season, it is difficult to judge the types of games that you are going to get. But coming to Scotland, we knew it was a fairly safe bet that the standard of games would be good. The Scots always want to beat the English so we’ve had two competitive games.

It (Madine's goal) was a good ball by Mark Beevers and an excellent finish by Gaz. It’s good for him and Josh Vela, who did what he did on a regular basis last season by scoring a great goal. We’ve also got to thank Mark Howard for one absolutely outstanding save in the second half where he tipped one over the crossbar to make sure we got the win.

We’re pleased with Sammy. He was obviously behind the other lads in terms of his preparations so we only gave him 45 minutes. It was important that we got that deal signed today because I wanted him to play so he didn’t fall further behind the rest of the lads. He’s come in and is in good physical shape. He worked hard on his own in the off-season. We just need to help him continue to progress and get him ready for the start of the season.

It was good for Derik to get some minutes. He’s looked very fit in pre-season but has had a slight problem with his Achilles. It’s not too serious but we have had to manage it. I thought he did well when he came on and he has trained well towards the end of this week. That’s half an hour under his belt now and we hope to get him some more minutes as we progress this week.

It was good to see so many of them (fans) up here again tonight. Hopefully they can see the squad gradually forming. It takes time and you have to be patient sometimes. We know we still have work to be done but the transfer window doesn’t close until the end of August. We need to be stronger in terms of numbers before the start of the season, in terms of cover and the starting XI as well. But we’re working towards that. Hopefully this time next week, we will have added one or two more quality players to the group and we’ll keep improving things step by step.

We train tomorrow morning, have something to eat and then head back home. It’s been a very successful week for us and it was important we finished the week off well because this was the biggest game. We’re pleased with where we have stayed as the facilities have been first-class.

The training and attitudes of the lads has been excellent and I feel it has been a very beneficial week. It’s good to get the lads away together, as it was last year, and it’s good for the staff to be together in that time to discuss things and look at where we are as a squad. We’ve enjoyed it and now look forward to getting back to Bolton, getting back to the training ground on Monday morning and getting back to work.

Parky again:
(source: BN)

He (Sameobi) is behind the lads in terms of his pre-season but I think considering that fact he coped well. We played him out on the right, which is where he did well for us last season, but he can play anywhere across the front three. I think we’ll need that flexibility this season. We’re pleased to get him in because we know he can make a difference for us.

It was a great test because their season starts Tuesday, they were fit, they were sharp and they were ahead of us in their preparation. First half I was really pleased because we kept the ball well, kept control of the game and got two great goals from Gary and Josh.

Second half, when the lads came on for the extra 15 minutes, I thought we got caught a little bit cold kicking up that slope on a massive pitch. Dundee raised their game and then when we made the changes the game became disjointed, Mark (Howard) made some good saves and they got one back, which looked offside to us. I was pleased, though, because the lads remained disciplined and saw the game through.

[Little Green Man]

Take your partners for the eightsome reel...



That's quite clearly Ameobi on the bench already so Buckley must have switched to the right as it was CTaylor who played on the left (at least for the first quarter of an hour of the second half). I wonder if Buckley even got a touch in the second half.

Odd ground is Dens Park. The main stand is boomerang shaped and has a significant section of seating that stretches some way beyond the goal line. Apparently it has been used as a greyhound stadium in the past.

[TonyDomingos]

Wanderers team to face @AFCFYLDE: Howard, Little, Brockbank, Wheater, Beevers, C.Taylor, Perry, Pratley, King, Madine, Le Fondre. #BWFC

Wanderers subs: Alnwick, A.Taylor, Dervite, Vela, Karacan, Ameobi, Buckley, Derik, Armstrong, Darby, Trialist, Hall, Earing. #BWFC