F.A.Cup...Re-play V Luton at Home. Tues 16th Jan 19-45

[DJBlu]

Real fighting second half from the Whites and they didn't deserve to lose that. Big thanks D.J.Blu for all your good work. Really enjoyed that.

We're back on the couch on Saturday, need the fireplace. Snow and Russia all in one evening. My feet are freezing!

[officer_dibble]

Josh Sheehan is a revelation.

Captain material! He was immense.

[BWFC_Insane]

Well, so near. I think we can be proud of that and move on. Several of our players looked capable of matching Luton - Sheehan was brilliant, Iredale played with remarkable confidence, Adeboyejo excellent, Ashworth right at home.

Chins up, leather Orient, we go again.

Sheehan, Thomason, Dacres Cogley and Adeboyejo all outshone their premiership opponents.

[DJBlu]

Well, so near. I think we can be proud of that and move on. Several of our players looked capable of matching Luton - Sheehan was brilliant, Iredale played with remarkable confidence, Adeboyejo excellent, Ashworth right at home.

Chins up, leather Orient, we go again.

Sheehan, Thomason, Dacres Cogley and Adeboyejo all outshone their premiership opponents.

It's brilliant to see, gives hope that with the right investment in other areas we might have a chance of glorious times again at this club.

[Mar]

Ref bottles another one on the final whistle. Sums you up, bell end.

Great performance. They can hold their heads up high - could of gone either way that, we gave it a proper go.

Seen the goal again. Arguably the right decision but it's a tough one to spot. Charles was offside when the ball is played to Adeboyejo, then the pass he's probably slightly offside / inline with Vic. Linesman is in a great position to see it but doesn't flag and the ref whose in a worse position gives it. I don't think it's a clear cut offside for the ref to flag and yet here we are.

What an incredible performance and end to end showing. Players should keep their heads held high. We matched a prem side and possibly outperformed them in some regards. Sheehan looked immense tonight.

[irie Cee Bee]

Many thanks for the link Dj. What a performance by the team. Sheehan was world class. Superb!! Every player gave everything to the end and showed their quality. They had me in awe at times. Show this consistently every week and we will win L1 by some distance.

[BorsdaneWhite]

Just got in and the thermals earned their keep. As did that wonderful side of ours. Sheehan was extraordinary and made mincemeat out of their attackers. Live, it was even better: he, Thommo, and Ashworth all being wonderful shithouses. They really got under Luton’s skin.

Did not deserve to lose at all. That Thommo chance. My lord. That was the one. He hit it so damned hard. Thoroughly deserved a goal, that lad.

Who the hell was that up front with Charles? Jesus. Had them all (and sometimes himself) on toast.

Amongst the several weird ones I couldn’t work out from where I was sat: how can you give a goalkeeper a nosebleed after he’s picked up the ball and get away without a booking? Jerome, too, looked to have been dragged all over the place in the final minute, both inside and outside the box. Was it as clear-cut as that, or a determined bias on my part?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Jerome, too, looked to have been dragged all over the place in the final minute, both inside and outside the box. Was it as clear-cut as that, or a determined bias on my part?

It was very very close to being a pen, in my opinion.

What tonight showed was that we have the basis of a very good side. Imagine if we had a pacy sub striker to stretch defences late on.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

[truewhite15]

Almost best-case scenario, really. Played a very good, even game vs Prem opposition, narrowly knocked out but with enough chances to say we could have deserved better. But no more fixture congestion (at least with the FA Cup).

Sheehan was incredible. As was Thomason, who must have added about £20m to his value for his all-round performance - before knocking about £10m back off with his sky-bound effort. But what a goal it would have been. Adeboyejo was fantastic in a much more "target-man" sort of role - he had Mengi on toast. Ashworth, too, was very good on the left - not sure we missed Williams at all. Santos again showed why he's possibly the best centre back in the league.

Enjoyed that game. Nowt to be ashamed of at all. We were the better side for large stretches of the 2nd half.

[Spartan2]

It feels wrong to single players out because they were all so good but, I do have to say I'm surprised at how well Ashworth played given I'd basically written him off after his last performance, hopefully more of that from him. Adeboyejo was superb in the first leg and in this, I'm not sure if he's getting better or his game is better suited to the type of back to goal hold up play he was doing tonight. Like others have said Sheehan was unreal too. Nothing else to add, shit ref, we need a Vardy-esque option up top.

[Harry Genshaw]

I'd not be shocked if Luton put a bid in for young George based on that tonight. Bloody hell, what a talent. And to think we nearly let him leave for a paltry million quid.

[officer_dibble]

Having played at Kenilworth road he might turn them down…could well be a championship fixture next season that.

[KeyserSoze]

Superb performance with the only blot being we deserved more. That's knockout football, though, especially against teams higher up the pyramid. Your mistakes are punished.

Yet aside from a couple of costly moments...that was a privilege to watch. The pace and intensity we played at put them under real pressure.

Running out of superlatives for Thomason. From a talented if inconsistent kid who wouldn't say boo to a goose to an on-field general with a wand of a left foot, setting new standards and demanding his teammates reach them with him. Thoroughly enjoyed him picking Barkley's pocket in the first half, leading to Ade's near lob. If he had volleyed in that glorious Iredale through pass...what a player.

Also have to hat tip Sheehan, constantly finding space and bringing us forward. Looked to be playing at twice the speed. Him squaring up to their number nine was quite funny though. Scrappy Doo vibes.

Lads have a right to feel aggrieved for not getting more. Here's hoping they take it out on the rest of the league. Up the sexy football bastard whites.

[KeyserSoze]

A proud gaffer speaks

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... wn-defeat/

[truewhite15]

If we carry on playing like that, promotion won't be a problem. And we'll have absolutely nothing to fear in the Championship next season either.

There were moments in rhe first half where Ross Barkley couldn't move without Thomason mugging him of the ball. Whisper it quietly, you don't want to disturb the doom-n-gloomers... but we might have built a proper football team here.

[GhostoftheBok]

That was one of the best nights under the lights in forever.

What an amazing display.

Highlight for me was Sheehan threatening to smash Carlton Morris. Josh had been getting kicked all night and finally just lost it. Glorious.

Gutted we lost, but so proud of all of them.

[Mar]

There but by the grace of a refereeing decision do we go out of the competition. Weve had it by Foy when we were relegated from the prem and we've had it tonight. Difference is, tonight's looked like the right call.

Why mention Foy you may ask. The answer lies somewhere around the Premier League. That's the level we were competing at against Luton, not once but twice. If anyone's wondering what this team is capable of then tonight's a great example.

We should get promoted with this side. They're more than capable. Consistency is the key. Where they go from here, well I guess we'll see.

[dave the minion]

Sheehan was incredible. As was Thomason, who must have added about £20m to his value for his all-round performance - before knocking about £10m back off with his sky-bound effort. But what a goal it would have been. Adeboyejo was fantastic in a much more "target-man" sort of role - he had Mengi on toast. Ashworth, too, was very good on the left - not sure we missed Williams at all. Santos again showed why he's possibly the best centre back in the league.

Enjoyed that game. Nowt to be ashamed of at all. We were the better side for large stretches of the 2nd half.

Now, I didn't see the match, but you can't be right at all, surely, based on the "facts" that some people seem to believe? For example, I thought Santos was a pub-standard lump at the back and Vic was a liability..........

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Iredale on for Forrester for us.

Hopefully nothing serious.

Forrester tweaked a hamstring.
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... forrester/
“He's got a slight hamstring niggle. We don’t know whether it's just fatigue, cramp or coming from his back perhaps, or if there's a small strain in there. We will have to see how he responds overnight and then make a decision on getting an image to see what we're dealing with. It doesn’t look too serious but it's very early days for us to make a call on that.”