Post
by Bluemike » Sat Sep 16, 2017 6:34 pm
Over the years we have invariably struggled against teams that we really should be beating, we just don't seem to handle the favourites tag very well at all so it was with a bit of trepidation tha we made our way to Portman Road this afternoon with every man and his dog expecting us to see of Bolton comfortably. The opening half did little to convince me that today was not going to be yet another one of those occasions where we fail to deliver the goods against lowly opposition. The opening Twenty minutes really was devoid of any real meaningful action with a couple of efforts from kenlock which were blocked the only real chances to come our way while at the other end it was one time Town target Craig Noone who had tried his luck on a couiple of occasions but not really troubling Bart in the Town goal. Kenlock had actually started very well, defending with aplomb and getting in key tackles on a couple of occasions, Iorfa too had caught the eye once or twice but aside from that Town had been very ordinary indeed.
Midway through the first half Bolton began to impose themselves more on the game and had a decent spell, Skuse made one really good saving tackle after a slip by Chambers had allowed them to get clean through, it was verey good and timely intervention. bart then pulled off his first real save of the match tipping a shot from distance around the post and away for a corner. The half ended with Iorfa having a header easily saved by Alnwick. To be honest it was a pretty dire half of football with both side lucvky to have Zero at the break, Towns 3-5-2 had really not worked at all, Ward had been pretty woeful and contributed nothing, every time he did get the ball he looked to check back and try to lay off a simple pass rather than getting his head down and running at the Bolton defence, Adeyemi too had been pretty ineffective although had tidied up a bit in the middle but by and large we had not won the Midfield battle, Skuse had been the pick of the Midfield but more for the defensive side than anything else, up front Garner had been given very little to feed off and was a peripheral figure for much of the half. For me Bolton looked pretty hopeless and yet it could be argued they edged it, I never really felt threatened and if we could step it up the game was there for us to win.
The second half saw Celina on for Connolly who had taken a couple of knocks, the switch also saw us revert back to 4-4-2 and this definitely saw an improvement in our second half display. Celina made an instant impact and after some good work from him and McGoldrick the ball found its way to Skusey who hit a shot from just outside the box which took a big deflection to wrong foot the keeper and find it's way into the net, in fairness it was on target anyway but the keeper may well have been equal to it, either way it gave us the lead. Instead of galvanising Town to go forward the goal had the opposite effect with Bolton pinning us back for a few minutes as they spurned a couple of chances to hit the target, one block from a Town defender (not sure who) was a cracking piece of defending. Town had ridden the mini storm and at the otehr end Didsy barged his way through to get a shot away which the keeper dealt with. Celina & McGoldrick were at last starting to cause the Bolton defence some problems and the kosovans skill and trickery was proving to be a real handfull while some of Didsy's skill was superb but at times he had a pass on which would have opened them up but he chose to shoot instead. It was celina again who forced a good save from the Bolton keeper as Town enjoyed their best spell of the game, this time palming away a shot after the Town winger had cut inside. Town were so close to winning the game a minute later as Didsy found himself in space but he was unable to control the ball, ward followed up but his effort was cleared. With the game entering the final couple of minutes it was indeed McGoldrick who sealed the points with a well taken finish, Garner won the header and his fellow striker made no mistake, flicking the ball home with Alnwick well beaten.
The win was no more than Town deserved for their second half efforts but at HT it really looked like we may well come unstuck against the basement boys. There is no doubt reverting to 4-4-2 improved us as we had a few dodgy moments defensively before the break, while we still rode our luck a couple of times we looked far more of a threat at the other end thanks in no small part to Celina's arrival who combined with McGoldrick well. Adeyemi improved as the game went on and he nad Skuse had more control after the break. Kenlock was very assured especially in the first half when he was in fact our biggerst threat going forward too, Chambers returning to the fold definitely helps and apart from one slip when Skuse got him off the hook he did ok. It wasn't really Garner's day but the guy sure does put his head in where it hurts and won Two or Three vital headers in his own box to clear danger. I thought Bart looked a bit disillusioned first half too and could have come out for Two or Three balls to alleviate the pressure but instead he stood rooted to the spot.
Bart (6) Iorfa (7) Chambers (6) Spence (6) Connolly (5) Kenlock (7) Ward (4) Skuse (7) Adeyemi (6) Garner (6) McGoldrick (7)
SUBS :- Celina (7) Downes (5) Nydam (5)
A win is a win is a win, the doomongers will point towards the fact that for 45 minutes we toiled against the bottom side and that cannot be argued with, however not for the first time this season Mick changed it around tactically and got the points, the days of having no plan B seem to be a thing of the past. Finding ourselves in Fifth place with a game in hand that could take us top has to be applauded and still we have a fair few players missing. We weren't great by any means but we got the job done and took the points, another clean sheet is pleasing too, the link up play between Didsy & Celina had flashes of brilliance, at times both are selfish when a pass is called for and we could well have had Four but for Didsy's greed but he stuck at it and got his reward, he will no doubt get the MOTM accolades but it could so easily have been a 9/10 performance with the right pass at the right time. That is the first of our Three home games in September but we will need to improve some in the other two, however first up we have a daunting trip to Leeds who still sit top, how nice would it be to win there and go top ourselves !!!! We can but dream. COYB'S