Bolton Wanderers 1 Charlton Athletic 2
A bounce back win, which did not look likely until Nathan Jones made 2nd half changes that turned the game on its head.
On the hour mark we were behind, were short on ideas and another long journey home point-less looked certain.
Jones went with an unchanged side, which I could understand, handing the opportunity back to the same players who failed miserably at Rotherham.
The 1st half was pretty even but Bolton’s pleasing on the eye style always looked like it would yield advantage and some of our passing threatened to assist them. AMB made a strong save just before the break to keep the score goalless.
On 55 minutes a quick decisive break after some sloppy play by us further up the pitch saw million pound signing Joel Randall give Bolton the lead.
Jones made four changes in the space of 10 minutes and the difference was startling. Godden, Aneke and Anderson in particular were getting in their faces. Coventry and Docherty swung the midfield pendulum our way and Small and TC helped get the ball in and around their box with a steely determination.
Bolton are fragile and you could see and feel the cracks appear. Gillesphey, who’s passing in his own half causes palpitations, put a peach of ball into the box for Lloyd Jones to poke home for 1-1.
After that we swarmed all over them with Anderson driving us forward and Aneke at his defender tormenting best.
The goal was lucky, but Anderson did really well to win a challenge and turn to face the goal and get a shot off. It went in off a backside or back or something but we didn’t care. The hardy couple of hundred Addicks behind the goal enjoyed that.
Then, as we’ve done previously, we saw out the 8 remaining minutes comfortably. Aneke and Small winding them up a treat in the corner when a stamp on Small should’ve seen Matete sent off.
It was a win that we rarely get, it was smash and grab but the sheer determination we showed after being behind was great to see.
Finally, the game was delayed for a time just after the kick-off due to a medical emergency. I hope the Bolton fan makes a quick recovery.
🎙️“Got a little bit lucky with the second, but we went for the win. We wanted to go for the win and we made changes to go for the win and look, we got it.” – Nathan Jones
⭐️ Greg Docherty
🏟️ 18,477 (252 Addicks)
📸 Kyle Andrews
Our first double of the season, our first win after going behind, Lloyd’s back on the scoresheet since first game of the season. Good performance all round.
Our keepers get a lot of criticism but other than one wayward kick I thought AMB was back to his best and was close to MotM.
Here’s hoping the Bolton fan makes a full and speedy recovery 🙏
Jones (Lloyd) back to his best, if he can be tied down on a long term deal and we can back that up with back-to-back home wins I’d say it’s game on for the rest of the season.
Tactical win with subs paying off and agree, proper determination and character.
And yes, at times football pales, a family will have other priorities this morning so here’s hoping.
The triple substitution was the game changer – for five minutes Bolton’s defence were caught out working who they should be marking and that allowed Lloyd Jones to make that diagonal run through their backline. It still needed the assist of the season, I doubt we’ll see a better weighted, flighted and more accurate cross all year.
Sure Karoy Anderson got lucky for the winner, but he made his luck by fighting for possession in their box and got his shot away under pressure. That’s his first of the season, we need a few more from him.
We have to follow this up, Shrewsbury are up next at the Valley and we have to take three points off them. Maybe I’d give one or two players a rest – Alex Mitchell looked tired and REG looked good when he came on. Possibly Kayne Ramsay will be back – he’s been in training for a fortnight so must be close to a recall.
Well, didn’t see that coming after Saturday’s performance, but will be happy to take the three points. Why are we such a Jekyll & Hyde side ? If Chucks could last a full 90 minutes we would be further up the table, as he has the ability to bully defenders and make things happen. Also I reckon Godden should be given a few more starts, given his scoring record and experience. Anyway, bring on Shrewsbury. Will we be Jekyll or Hyde on Saturday?
An unexpected but welcome win. However victory doesn’t conceal just how woeful we were for sixty minutes. Against a better side we could have been in greater arrears.
N.Jones seems to have realised (eventually) if things aren’t going well, don’t wait until the last five minutes to use the subs. They seemed to galvanise the team and had time to make an impact.
I think that win ensures we won’t be getting relegated 🙂 but I’m still far from convinced we can make the play-offs, let alone succeed in them.
I did say that after losing to Rotherham we would bounce back at Bolton….just illustrating how unpredictable we are….but it was well deserved.
We now need to build on the win.
And wishing the Bolton fan a speedy recovery and my thoughts are with the family.
Bolton decide to sack their manager today…ruthless
Not surprised. He has been walking a tightrope and has cracked under the pressure. His and L Jones tête-à-tête showed that.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke (not !!) after his arrogant remarks a season or two back, that Bolton were without doubt the best in the league. Good riddance I say.
Would have loved to hear the exchange between them
Loving LJ and he bounced back really well from his stinker on Saturday. I hope we tie him down to a new contract. Has to be essential to any future success of this team.
I have the answer CA! Due to lots going on at the moment I completely forgot it was Tuesday, let alone that we were playing – how wonderful it was to see the result once it was all over. Obviously a bit hard to do for home games but am prepared to carry on for away games.
I frequently wonder if the players/NJ look at social media at what the fans are thinking – most of the time I pray that they don’t. But I was also kind of hoping recently that they did because of a lot of balanced positivity (eg comments after the Preston game). The idea of actually supporting your team by encouraging them! OK there is still the ridiculous talk of promotion and one or two with an axe to grind (and grind they do) but personally I really want to give this all a chance – NJ, the owners and the players. The only one I’d like to sack right now is the set-play coach – if we have such a thing!
I think we have a set-play coach. Assume it is a salaried role 😆.
Just checking the score at the final whistle is very old school, LP. Perhaps you could wait until the morning papers? 😉
The set play coach is Jones! 🙂