September - Match Reviews

30/9/2000

Bolton 0

Fulham 2 (Boa-Morte 1, 85)

Attendance:19,924

I'd have been well chuffed with a point on this the visit of the seemingly invincible, big spending, southern puffs!, but instead we were given a lesson in passing, movement and commitment. Luckily, or so everyone thought their top scorer Saha was injured only for his stand in ex Gunner/Saint Luis Boa Morte to bag a brace, one at each end of the match. In terrible conditions Clark and Collins ran the show spraying killer passes finding Hayles and Boa Morte in acres of space, while we resorted to hoofing it up for Ricketts to chase. While Fulham were good I think we flattered them, heads went down nearly straight away and only for Jussi, Fish and Gudni it could have been five, in the attacking stakes Ian Marshall came on and in spite of his age, ran for everything showing real determination, as for the rest of the team, aside from these four, they should have stayed at home.

Bolton : Jaaskelainen, O' Kane, Bergsson, Fish, Barness (Charlton 67), Farrelly, Frandsen, Passi, Hansen (Rankin 73), Holdsworth (Marshall 60), Ricketts.

Fulham : Taylor, Finnan, Melville, Coleman, Trollope, Collins, Goldbaek, Fernandes, Clark, Hayles, Boa Morte.

23/9/2000

Blackburn 1 (Thomas 1)

Bolton 1 (Hansen 88)

Attendance:23,660

Blackburn : Filan, Curtis, McAteer (Johnson 59), Bjornebye, Berg, Short, Flitcroft (Dunn 72), Duff, Blake, Carsley, Thomas (Ostenstad 82).

Bolton : Jaaskelainen, O' Kane, Bergsson, Fish, Barness, Farrelly, Frandsen, Passi (Nolan 66), Hansen, Holdsworth (Marshall 58), Ricketts (Rankin 77).

Bolton 2 (Holdsworth 42, Ricketts 85)

Portsmouth 0

Attendance:14,113

The team started quietly in the first half, as did our supporters who were once again embarassingly outsung by the away end, the Portsmouth attacks were dealt with fairly comfortably by Fish and Bergsson and also O'Kane, who seems to be making a good case for starting as left back. Deano and Hansen were responsible for not making the margin of the win much larger with a hatful of missed chances, although both made amends somewhat, Deano holding composure just before half time, to bring a long ball down, leave two defenders for dead, drag it back, and hit a sweet, low shot into the bottom left corner. Hansen played well, showing more effectiveness out wide on the right than he has in his regular position, with some neat touches and quite a few good runs at the Pompey defence.We had a let off shortly after we took the lead when some sloppy defending sent Mills clean through only for his shot to flash narrowly wide of the post. Super-sub Ricketts came on at half time and the whole team upped tempo and began to pile on the pressure. It was a matter of when, not if, we would extend the lead and it happened about 5 minutes from time when Ricketts (who else?) muscled his way past the opposition to add our second and his sixth for the season, Gudjohnsen? Jensen? who needs 'em!

Bolton : Jaaskelainen, O' Kane, Bergsson, Fish (Marshall 61), Barness, Farrelly, Frandsen, Passi, Hansen, Holdsworth (Nolan 85), Rankin (Ricketts h/t).

Portsmouth : Hoult, Primus, Derry, Moore, Edinburgh, Thogersen, Quashie, Lambourde, Hughes (Claridge 70), Bradbury, Mills.

Grimsby 0

Bolton 1 (Ricketts 71)

Attendance:3732

Can anyone remember a better start to the season?, these are the kind of games where the points matter and not how we attain them, to get motivated to play at somewhere like Grimsby midweek, especially as many travelling fans may not have attended due to the fuel embargo, is no mean feat. According to reports we were the poorer of the two sides and Grimsby were hard done by, not that it matters, everyone knows at the end of the day the final score was 1-0 in our favour - that man Ricketts again!, and to think some Black country f*ckwit was moaning on a phone-in the other week, claiming that the lad was useless for Walsall (11 goals for a relegated side?, I think I'd point the finger at some of your other players mate!). I must admit I was a bit sceptical of Allardyce when he was first appointed but I'll eat my words now, It seems like he knows when to deal out pats on the back and bollockings in the right measure, maybe one of the areas Colin Todd was severely lacking.

Grimsby : Coyne, McDermott, Groves, Raven, Smith, Black (Jeffrey 73), Butterfield, Pouton, Coldicott, Livingstone, Allen (Clare 74).

Bolton : Jaaskelainen, O'Kane, Whitlow (Richardson 39), Marshall, Bergsson, Barness, Frandsen, Passi, Hansen (Nolan 84), Holdsworth (Ricketts 54), Rankin.

9/9/2000

Huddersfield 2 (Smith 46, Dyson 75)

Bolton 3 (Holdsworth 52, Ricketts 70, 76)

Attendance:12,248

Another well earned three points under our belts as Huddersfield's dismal home form continued, The Terriers took the lead just before half time when Holdsworth hit a back pass with as much power as a wet fart and Jaaskelainen under pressure fluffed his clearance which went straight to Martin Smith who duly took his chance.Deano made up for his cock up shortly after the break when he headed home from a tricky cross, then enter super-sub Michael Ricketts who showed his strength and pace to score twice, his second after Huddersfield had pegged one back to make it all square, the home fans had barely finished celebrating when Ricketts met with Ian Marshall's cross to secure a well fought win, and it seems like the last minute goal conceding problem is well and truly over.

Huddersfield : Vaesen, Vincent (Sellars 84), Kozluk, Monkou (Kyle 61), Lucketti, Armstrong, Holland, Gallen, Gorre, Smith (Dyson 69), Beech.

Bolton : Jaaskelainan, 'O Kane, Whitlow, Bergsson, Barness, Frandsen, Farrelly, Passi, Hansen (Richardson 84), Holdsworth (Marshall 73), Rankin (Ricketts 53).