What Age is Steven? Bolton v Stevenage Tues. 3-11-2023 7-15.

[DJBlu]

Oh and Wigan lost again.

[sonicthewhite]

Feckin relieved. Now I just need to shake the shortbread crumbs out the bedding

[jmjhb]

It certainly augurs well that we're finding ways to win despite playing utter shite.

[Mar]

Lovely result. Some lovely goals in there.

Really impressed with Stevenage. MOTM for me is Iredale, lovely goal and assist.


Teams that win the league find a way to win troubling games. We've done just that. Great stuff.

[officer_dibble]

Good teams find a way to win. I thought it would be tight but I didn’t think it would be like that! Fair play to Stevenage probably deserved a point overall - we were much better second half mind.

[sonicthewhite]

Good teams find a way to win. I thought it would be tight but I didn’t think it would be like that! Fair play to Stevenage probably deserved a point overall - we were much better second half mind.

So the opposite of last Sat then?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Screenshot 2023-10-03 at 21.54.02.png (97.27 KiB) Viewed 5822 times

Tight behind us. And the top two won again – Oxford at a canter, Pompey with a 98th-minute winner having been behind until the hour.

But we're top of the chasing pack, and that will do for the next three days.

[officer_dibble]

Good teams find a way to win. I thought it would be tight but I didn’t think it would be like that! Fair play to Stevenage probably deserved a point overall - we were much better second half mind.

So the opposite of last Sat then?

Didn’t see Saturday but it sounded like we played them off the park first half. We were better second half and coped with their front three a lot better, but we didn’t play them off the park. We played smarter and showed up more in the midfield battle. Dempsey and Sheehan miles better second half. Been in a game and had to roll our sleeves up. Jerome’s cameo was nearly a disaster!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Just to say, Posh conceded a 96th-minute equaliser at Carlisle - the home side's first accurate effort. Yer man didn't score for Posh, again, despite four efforts on goal.

That's a long journey home.

[TANGODANCER]

Three points (three goals) and a win. Don't matter who you play, it's goals that count......Well done the Whites...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Didn’t see Saturday but it sounded like we played them off the park first half. We were better second half and coped with their front three a lot better, but we didn’t play them off the park. We played smarter and showed up more in the midfield battle. Dempsey and Sheehan miles better second half. Been in a game and had to roll our sleeves up. Jerome’s cameo was nearly a disaster!

Again, agree with all this.

Curate's egg of a game. It wasn't so much Morecambe FC as Morecambe Bay with the ebb and flow of the game's tide turning hugely, swiftly and eventually lethally for them. First half quite even but nerve-wracking. We turned it on for 15 minutes and went in front but then Jerome's utter brain-fart let them level from the spot. Just when I feared the worst, Iredale's superb vision and Sheehan's utter quality put us back in front - I mean, Stevenage must watch that back and shake their heads at what we're capable of.

What we're capable of is better - maintaining the initiative for longer would be a start - but credit to Stevenage who will play a lot worse and win. They have a style and they have decent players capable of executing it. Wouldn't surprise me to see them still top-8 in May – unless, as sometimes happens, the Evans Express blows a boiler mid-journey.

As for us - just keep winning. Carlisle will play a similar style but probably with lesser players (bar perhaps Moxon). They'll be buoyed by a big away end but we have to impose ourselves. I worry that our players are very tired now but it's one last push before the break (not that it' a break for Dion, but...)

Thomason was immense. Defenders were asked serious questions and stood up, even if sometimes a little shakily. The wingbacks are putting in enormous workloads. Baxter does his job with a quiet confidence. We're not far off being a decent team.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

[Worthy4England]

Happy with the win, showed some gumption in second half, even if it was a bit scary. Think additional tea sets might have been ordered for the half time break, because we were noticeably better first 10 mins. Then got in front and reverted for a while.

[officer_dibble]

Not far off - you can see how having Maghoma, possibly CMG off the bench would have been a big help.

Got to keep going and be in touch in January so we can sort that forward line out mind - either keep Jerome on for coaching or cancel the contract.

[officer_dibble]

And how the feck do we stop George Thomason getting yellow cards? He was great tonight, stand out midfielder across the game. Shows for the ball, makes brave passes and can change shape to get us out of a spot. But he gets a deserved booking every game, and often gets away with another!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Evatt reax
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... e-victory/

People shouldn’t underestimate any team that is managed by Steve Evans. The way they ask you questions and make you defend your box is everything we expected. Set-plays, second balls, forward runners, it is tough to play against and takes serious energy and concentration. With a depleted squad and the energy we put into winning on Saturday, I am so happy for the players to find a way to win.

I said last week that the next three games weren’t necessarily about performances and being our fluid best. It's just about finding a way, with the group and the energy they have to put in. We have got a lack of options and chance to rotate because we haven’t got the depth we would normally have. But the players dug so deep. The togetherness in the group is amazing and again they found a way to keep finding a goal. It is something I'm proud of.

They are a really dangerous team from set-plays, we knew that. But we also knew with the way they mark and set up, there were opportunities for us to create chances with some routines we've worked on. We got the penalty from the first one and the second one was a well-worked routine. I’m delighted we have managed to score more or less two set-plays. When you're not at your best and lacking a bit of energy, that's a different way to win and we found that.

[BWFC_Insane]

Happy with the win, showed some gumption in second half, even if it was a bit scary. Think additional tea sets might have been ordered for the half time break, because we were noticeably better first 10 mins. Then got in front and reverted for a while.

This. We didn’t play very well second half but at least we had some fight after the limp first half.

I understand why we had to sit back and defend the box. We didn’t have the energy or options to do anything else but we did so with purpose. It’s a hard watch but needs must.

Maybe we tried to do that after twelve minutes and it’s why we were so poor first half but for me a few needed rockets,

Saturday will be a similar game. We have to at the very minimum match Carlisle’s fight.

[BWFC_Insane]

And how the feck do we stop George Thomason getting yellow cards? He was great tonight, stand out midfielder across the game. Shows for the ball, makes brave passes and can change shape to get us out of a spot. But he gets a deserved booking every game, and often gets away with another!

Maybe the other two could stand up to some physical challenges instead of expecting young George to do it all? Just a thought.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Iredale's sixth yellow card of the season, BTW, but two were in cups so luckily he's alreet for Saturday

Yellows in three successive league games though, he needs to nip that in the bud

[BWFC_Insane]

Iredale's sixth yellow card of the season, BTW, but two were in cups so luckily he's alreet for Saturday

Yellows in three successive league games though, he needs to nip that in the bud

His booking looked a nonsense to me.