The midweek draw with the Champions Rochdale Sacred Heart showed that in our bunch of lads, there can be a steel and a grit to see things through until the end. Sure – the visitors were in party mood – but we grafted and grinded out a credible point where many in the Division would have thought it was a banker for an away win. So with our status preserved for the next campaign, today saw us seeing out the 2022-2023 season with another home game – and this time is was our old foes from Walshaw Sports that were making the trip to the County Ground. Needless to say, today didn’t go exactly to plan…
The sun was shining gloriously and the pitch looked in perfect nick as the crowds starting arriving – and as our squad warmed up, there was one thing visibly clear to see. With several of the first-team squad unavailable, it was another chance to blood some of our Development squad and having seen several of them play well when giving the nod over the past few weeks, it wsas going to be interesting to see how some of the other lads coped with Premier Division football. So when the team was announced, of course it saw us sticking with the 4-3-3 – and there was a debut for young Prince in between the sticks. Charlie slid in at left-back and we were going with Matty Hill on the right. The defensive duo of Hodgy and Ben were there to bring that experience and the midfield three saw Shorty and Smalley joined by young Louis – who done well when called upon on Tuesday night. The front three today saw Carl and Matty Leatham either side of another Development squad lad in Cole and on the bench, we had Harrison and Gil – to be joined by Asumani when he decided to turn up. The mood was good – the great weather certainly helped that – and as both teams came out to start proceedings, both sets of fans were expectant. 90 minutes left of the season lads – so go out there and leave everything on the pitch. Plenty of rest after this…
The first chance of note fell to us on 3 minutes as a run from Matty saw the ball bounce off his shins and into the path of Carl – but he could only fire it over as it looked as though he just couldn’t get his knee above the ball. Next up we won a corner and Carl curled it in to see Hodgy climb highest – but he couldn’t direct his header on target and it flew over the bar. At least the early signs were good…
Hodgy was dominating again – as he has done for a good few games now – and another great ball from his cultured right-boot saw Matty race through. He got to the bye-line and chopped the ball beautifully across the six-yard box that saw Cole just not manage to get his toe to and it went out for a throw on the other side. But on 9 minutes, the visitors took the lead – and it was somewhat against the run of play considering they didn’t have to work hard for this either. A free-kick on the halfway line saw their No.2 launch it forward – and as Prince came out to claim it, the ball bounced through his hands and into the back of his net. The travelling supporters didn’t even celebrate as it caught everybody by surprise but the score-line stood at 0-1 and we had it all to do now. The lads tried to gee up their young keeper and away we went again…
We were straight back at them and a good ball through the middle saw Cole just fail to get to it before their No.1 – and as Charlie came forward, he tried to lob the back-tracking keeper – but he managed to jump and collect it with ease. Then we saw what should have been the equaliser – if it wasn’t for a top-notch save from their keeper. A great corner in from Carl saw Hodgy rise like a salmon again to connect sweetly with his forehead and the ball was destined for the top corner – that was until their No.1 managed to dive full-length to get his fingertips to it and get it wide for a corner. A stunning save – but from the resulting corner, this time Cole got to it but the ball was arrowed about two feet over their crossbar. We looked like we wanted back in this at least…
The visitors thought they had doubled their lead on the quarter-hour when a corner was swung in and their midfielder got his head to it to direct it goal-wards. But there was Matty Hill to get back quick enough to make a goal-line clearance with his head. 15 minutes in and this had been non-stop so far…
But they did manage to get their second of the game on 18 minutes and once again, it was a goal that could have been avoided. The away side had pressed but we seemed to have dealt with it and played it back to Prince’s feet – but his attempted clearance smacked against their striker and he made no mistake in tucking it home into the empty net. 0-2 and we now had even more work to do…
Back we came again and this time it was Smalley who burst through the middle and as he went to shoot, a great challenge came in that took all of the power from the ball and it went easily to their keeper. We were still looking dangerous when we could get the ball forward so that next goal was going to be an important one. We get it and it’s game on again…
It wasn’t us though. Because on 20 minutes, a mix-up in our defence saw their striker nip in and go to hit his shot – and although it looked as though he missed the ball, he went down under the challenge of a fluorescent sock and the man in the middle pointed straight to the spot. The County bench were livid – and made their feelings known as Houghie was heard to shout ‘absolutely ridiculous on at least five occasions – but the decision had been made and their No.10 slammed it home with no problem. Despite most of the good chances going our way, we now found ourselves 0-3 down and this was going to take something to pull it back now…
Believe it or not this was probably a 50-50 game in terms of possession now and on 38 minutes, Carl saw another good effort flash wide of the upright and if we could keep peppering away, then surely something would have to go our way. And as the game entered the 40th minute, we had a great chance to at least get a foothold back in the game – as we were awarded our own penalty after Shorty’s darting run into the box was thwarted by a foul. Shorty picked the ball up and took responsibility by then placing it down and claiming it. With a short run-up, he came forward – but his weak effort didn’t have enough power on it and their keeper dived to his right and saved it easily. This was going to be one of those days wasn’t it?
Prince then made some amends as he produced a fantastic save to stop an acrobatic overhead kick from their striker going straight into the top corner – but he was helpless to stop them going 0-4 up as a quick move down their right saw the ball fired in and there was their No.10 to stick his shot into the bottom corner and as they wheeled away in triumph, this had been a half not to remember for our young lads…
We did have something to end it positively with though – because as the game ticked into it’s 48th minute, we played a good move down our left to see the ball played into the middle – and there was Louis to tuck it home nicely past their diving No.1 and as we rushed to get the ball back into play, that goal was just desserts for the efforts we had put in out there. 1-4..
Half-time: BOLTON COUNTY 1-4 Walshaw Sports
What could be said to get their heads off the floor? Well that was easy. Forget what just happened. That score-line does not reflect the balance of play – but that score-line it was – so we now needed to go out there and play for our pride. We’d done well in the face of adversity over recent weeks – so grit your teeth and get back out there to make this right. We decided to get young Prince out of the firing line – so on came Harrison at left-back and Charlie was going to adorn the keeper gloves for the second half. Chin up – and get back out there and make sure you work hard for these last 45 minutes of the season…
The first real effort on target was from us – when a good piece of pass and move between Smalley and Shorty saw Cole played through and he hit his shot well only to see it matched by an equally good save from their keeper – but on 51 minutes, it was the visitors that scored again. This time they played it quick down their right and as we got back goal-side, we couldn’t stop the cross coming in – and it slammed against Shorty and over our line. As own goals go, it wasn’t too bad – but now the score was 1-5, we were going to really need to pick ourselves up and go again…
And you know things aren’t going your way when on 54 minutes, Hodgy of all people stepped on the ball at the wrong moment and it left them a clear run on goal. A good shot was saved well by Charlie – but he was helpless to stop their No.12 from rushing in and tucking the ball home from about 10 yards out. 1-6 and we had to stop this being a rout now…
Just before the hour-mark we brought Asumani on in place of Cole – who received a warm round of applause from the County fans for a good showing on his debut – and just after that, we had a great chance to grab our second. Matty was put clean through but could only shoot straight at their keeper – and as the rebound dropped to him, this time it was cleared for a corner. We were still trying and that was good to see…
There was a really bad challenge on 65 minutes as Ben was taken out – but the referee played the advantage and Carl was clear through on goal. But once again there was no end product and if we’re being honest, it looked like we just wanted to season to end now. There was another debut offered as Gil came on in place of a the hardworking Matty Hill and as the minutes ticked away, both teams seemed to wind down a little. It was hot out there in their defence…
County kept plugging away and in patches we were still looking the better footballing team – but another great chance for them to score was stopped when Charlie put himself where he knew he’d get hurt. The ball may not have gone over the line – but it had definitely done our No.1 some damage. He was alright though and on went the game…
And just before the end, we did manage to end our season with a goal – and it was that young man Louis who grabbed his brace. Good work from Asumani saw him cut in from the right and he slid a great ball into the path of Louis who duly tucked it under their keeper and into the bottom corner from about 15 yards out. It may have been a dismal afternoon score-wise – but this young man had shown his mettle out here. 2-6 and that was that. The curtain came down on ours and the division’s season and after much doubt and a few nervous times, we had managed to finish 11th – 8 points above the drop – so it was job done and time to recharge. Both teams shook hands with respect and as the County Ground started to empty, we can look back on this campaign with varied views. Great at times – but poor in others. The bosses will be working hard over the summer to bring in some new faces and when we come out again in July, we’ll be looking to be firing on all cylinders – again…
A massive thanks to the fans that have followed us through thick and thin this season – it really is appreciated – and if you’d like to be part of the Presentation Night celebration, just get in touch. We really do hope to see you at the start of the 2023-2024 campaign…
#UpTheCounty!