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Bolton Wanderers beating Harrogate Town in a League Two game played at Doncaster Rovers with not a supporter in sight; a more ‘2020’ football fixture you could hardly dare to imagine.
The Whites had suffered in the silence until Saturday. Without the buzz of a crowd it was possible to hear the machinations of a team not functioning properly, of a manager who had not quite figured out his plan.
The moans, the grumbles, the negative body language – all signs of a squad that was struggling with its pre-season billing as title favourites.
The sheepish faces which emerged from the ‘red zone’ – the UniBol’s inner sanctum – after last weekend’s defeat against Newport County suggested that things had come to a head between Ian Evatt, his staff and the squad. Anecdotal evidence suggests tempers flared in more ways than one.
But that purge of emotion triggered a quite different week at the club’s Lostock training ground. And, perhaps more importantly, gave the head coach some time to think differently about what compromises he may have to make to turn this dressing room of fragile confidences into a winning one.
The answer? A clear-the-air talk on Monday morning followed by a re-jigged schedule and a fierce three-day boot camp in which kicking lumps out of each other was encouraged, “provided it was done in the right way,” smirked Evatt on Friday.
The result? A stripped-down, lean, mean, Wanderers who went into a game with Harrogate as the underdogs.
This was no Bolton-celona, the possession stats hardly warrant a mention. There were echoes of the grandiose expansive plan that Evatt had brought to the club in the summer, most notably in a return to the 3-4-2-1 formation, but unlike so much that had gone before, it was underpinned by something grittier.
Evatt brought back Antoni Sarcevic, who by all accounts made his feelings known about Bolton’s poor start behind the scenes last weekend after sitting out through injury. The club skipper returned here in snarling form. A marked improvement.
Jamie Mascoll replaced Liam Gordon on the left and was arguably the busiest player on the pitch for an hour as he tried to stem Harrogate’s continual tide of crosses.
Ryan Delaney started his first league game of the season with a point to prove. Defenders had potentially been judged with a different set of criteria to this point, but the Irishman showed a fierce determination to defend his penalty box. Likewise, Harry Brockbank, who until this weekend had not been on the winning team in his Bolton career.
Andy Tutte also got his first start, setting the tone early on by continually disrupting Harrogate’s midfield flow.
Wanderers went ahead through Eoin Doyle 11 minutes in with a typical piece of opportunism, a near-post dart to turn in Ali Crawford’s set piece for his first goal in Bolton colours.
They had ridden their luck a few moments earlier when Aaron Martin’s header glanced off the outside of the post, a chance which emanated from the first of umpteen pin-point crosses that came from Ryan Fallowfield on their right flank.
That would become a running theme for Bolton as they swung from stubbornly defending their penalty box to hitting Harrogate on the break.
Evatt stuck with Ricardo Santos in the middle of his defence despite the former Peterborough man coming in for more criticism than most in recent weeks. And playing as the central component of a back three, he rewarded his manager’s faith with a man of the match performance.
Often finding himself as the spare defender he was able to get on the ball, even stride out from the back. And on one occasion he nearly slipped Doyle through on goal after slicing through the midfield with a marauding run.
Harrogate were fighting to stay in the game and only a last-ditch block from Will Smith denied Doyle a second following some nice football between Nathan Delfouneso and Crawford.
It was all going along nicely until Gethin Jones picked up an injury after a tussle with Town’s man-mountain, Mark Beck. The full-back punched the floor in disappointment, knowing full well his afternoon was over.
When the diminutive Jak Hickman replaced him from the bench it was difficult not to feel some concern – but the youngster dug in with impressive resolve.
Wanderers scored a second, quite against the run of play, on 56 minutes when Doyle fed Delfouneso 12 yards out to open up his own account for the season.
It was the least Delfouneso deserved having linked-up well in the last few weeks in a more left-sided role. Here, he also showed a willingness to track back and defend.
That attitude was needed in bucketloads in the final half-hour, especially after Harrogate had grabbed a goal back through Thomson, who crashed home Calvin Miller’s cross from the left.
Now we would find out whether this Bolton team would crumble. The volume levels from behind the dugout increased as staff, injured players and coaches bellowed on support and instruction. It was hardly the vociferous backing of 1,000 away fans – but the closest we have come to atmosphere in this weird world of pandemic football.
Every crunching tackle was applauded, every headed clearance cheered.
Harrogate’s frustration became audible. In contrast with previous weeks it was now Wanderers’ opponents who were turning the air blue with exasperation.
Billy Crellin’s goal was not threatened directly. But the crosses continued to rain down in the final minutes.
The pacey Liam Gordon came off the bench to offer an out-ball on the left, Brandon Comley also adding a touch of composure in the latter stages.
The final whistle brought shouts of relief from the Bolton bench, then high fives and fist bumps from all involved. Remove any historical snobbery, this was a win they could not have afforded to let slip.
And so, behind the scenes, players and staff gathered again. This time, no anger, no finger-pointing, no aggressive pounding of the dressing room walls. Instead a team assembled in a circle, united, which had got the job done. Or better put, the first job.
It is not a time for back-slapping, or promotion talk, more for Evatt and his players to show that this is the New Normal.
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The Whites had suffered in the silence until Saturday. Without the buzz of a crowd it was possible to hear the machinations of a team not functioning properly, of a manager who had not quite figured out his plan.
The moans, the grumbles, the negative body language – all signs of a squad that was struggling with its pre-season billing as title favourites.
The sheepish faces which emerged from the ‘red zone’ – the UniBol’s inner sanctum – after last weekend’s defeat against Newport County suggested that things had come to a head between Ian Evatt, his staff and the squad. Anecdotal evidence suggests tempers flared in more ways than one.
But that purge of emotion triggered a quite different week at the club’s Lostock training ground. And, perhaps more importantly, gave the head coach some time to think differently about what compromises he may have to make to turn this dressing room of fragile confidences into a winning one.
The answer? A clear-the-air talk on Monday morning followed by a re-jigged schedule and a fierce three-day boot camp in which kicking lumps out of each other was encouraged, “provided it was done in the right way,” smirked Evatt on Friday.
The result? A stripped-down, lean, mean, Wanderers who went into a game with Harrogate as the underdogs.
This was no Bolton-celona, the possession stats hardly warrant a mention. There were echoes of the grandiose expansive plan that Evatt had brought to the club in the summer, most notably in a return to the 3-4-2-1 formation, but unlike so much that had gone before, it was underpinned by something grittier.
Evatt brought back Antoni Sarcevic, who by all accounts made his feelings known about Bolton’s poor start behind the scenes last weekend after sitting out through injury. The club skipper returned here in snarling form. A marked improvement.
Jamie Mascoll replaced Liam Gordon on the left and was arguably the busiest player on the pitch for an hour as he tried to stem Harrogate’s continual tide of crosses.
Ryan Delaney started his first league game of the season with a point to prove. Defenders had potentially been judged with a different set of criteria to this point, but the Irishman showed a fierce determination to defend his penalty box. Likewise, Harry Brockbank, who until this weekend had not been on the winning team in his Bolton career.
Andy Tutte also got his first start, setting the tone early on by continually disrupting Harrogate’s midfield flow.
Wanderers went ahead through Eoin Doyle 11 minutes in with a typical piece of opportunism, a near-post dart to turn in Ali Crawford’s set piece for his first goal in Bolton colours.
They had ridden their luck a few moments earlier when Aaron Martin’s header glanced off the outside of the post, a chance which emanated from the first of umpteen pin-point crosses that came from Ryan Fallowfield on their right flank.
That would become a running theme for Bolton as they swung from stubbornly defending their penalty box to hitting Harrogate on the break.
Evatt stuck with Ricardo Santos in the middle of his defence despite the former Peterborough man coming in for more criticism than most in recent weeks. And playing as the central component of a back three, he rewarded his manager’s faith with a man of the match performance.
Often finding himself as the spare defender he was able to get on the ball, even stride out from the back. And on one occasion he nearly slipped Doyle through on goal after slicing through the midfield with a marauding run.
Harrogate were fighting to stay in the game and only a last-ditch block from Will Smith denied Doyle a second following some nice football between Nathan Delfouneso and Crawford.
It was all going along nicely until Gethin Jones picked up an injury after a tussle with Town’s man-mountain, Mark Beck. The full-back punched the floor in disappointment, knowing full well his afternoon was over.
When the diminutive Jak Hickman replaced him from the bench it was difficult not to feel some concern – but the youngster dug in with impressive resolve.
Wanderers scored a second, quite against the run of play, on 56 minutes when Doyle fed Delfouneso 12 yards out to open up his own account for the season.
It was the least Delfouneso deserved having linked-up well in the last few weeks in a more left-sided role. Here, he also showed a willingness to track back and defend.
That attitude was needed in bucketloads in the final half-hour, especially after Harrogate had grabbed a goal back through Thomson, who crashed home Calvin Miller’s cross from the left.
Now we would find out whether this Bolton team would crumble. The volume levels from behind the dugout increased as staff, injured players and coaches bellowed on support and instruction. It was hardly the vociferous backing of 1,000 away fans – but the closest we have come to atmosphere in this weird world of pandemic football.
Every crunching tackle was applauded, every headed clearance cheered.
Harrogate’s frustration became audible. In contrast with previous weeks it was now Wanderers’ opponents who were turning the air blue with exasperation.
Billy Crellin’s goal was not threatened directly. But the crosses continued to rain down in the final minutes.
The pacey Liam Gordon came off the bench to offer an out-ball on the left, Brandon Comley also adding a touch of composure in the latter stages.
The final whistle brought shouts of relief from the Bolton bench, then high fives and fist bumps from all involved. Remove any historical snobbery, this was a win they could not have afforded to let slip.
And so, behind the scenes, players and staff gathered again. This time, no anger, no finger-pointing, no aggressive pounding of the dressing room walls. Instead a team assembled in a circle, united, which had got the job done. Or better put, the first job.
It is not a time for back-slapping, or promotion talk, more for Evatt and his players to show that this is the New Normal.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]