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Ian Evatt didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after a six-goal thriller at Carlisle United.
Wanderers fought back from 3-0 down with goals from George Thomason, Nathan Delfouneso and Peter Kioso to claim a point from a game ravaged by the stormy weather.
High-flying Carlisle had put themselves into a strong position, taking full advantage of the high winds and dreadful Bolton defending with goals from Aaron Hayden, Lewis Alessandra and Omari Patrick.
But after getting themselves back on to level terms Wanderers nearly snatched a result through Thomason, who hit the post, and then had Peter Kioso sent off to complete the drama.
“It was crazy. I have mixed emotions,” Evatt said after the final whistle.
“We’d spoken about what type of team they were and how the game was going to be. You turn up and it’s gale force wind, heavy rain and everything is conducive to being direct and playing for set pieces.
“We just didn’t stand up well enough to it in the first half, we didn’t do the ugly side well enough.
“We want to be a good team and play football. But there are times when you just can’t and you have to get it up the pitch and play for second balls.
“We didn’t do it first half, we got wobbled by the first goal. Then it was two and three.
“We had a fightback where we should have got a stonewall penalty at 2-0 but when it went to three you thought it was game over.
“George scores, Nathan gets a half chance and we knew second half would be different. Again, for all our weight of pressure, we’re just not built for these conditions. We don’t have the centre-forward who are physical and can make it a handful, ours want the ball to feet and want to play and combine.
“We carried on and the most pleasing thing for me is their effort to get back into the game.
“For us to get the second, then nick another one, then George has a chance to make it 4-3 and hits the post. Peter gets sent off, in my view unjustly as one of the yellows was never a booking, it’s backs to the wall at the end. It was a crazy game.”
While Evatt was happy that his side pushed on to claim a point in the second half, he admits sloppy defending has once again become an all-too-regular occurrence in recent weeks.
“It’s a common theme for us, we’re losing games before trying to win them,” he said.
“When we get good results we tend to start fast, on the front foot. We looked at the conditions, we said all the right things, the players got all the right messages but when we came out on to the pitch we just did the complete opposite.
“When it went to 1-0 you are still in the game. You can’t let it go to two and certainly not to three. We have to be mentally stronger.”
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Wanderers fought back from 3-0 down with goals from George Thomason, Nathan Delfouneso and Peter Kioso to claim a point from a game ravaged by the stormy weather.
High-flying Carlisle had put themselves into a strong position, taking full advantage of the high winds and dreadful Bolton defending with goals from Aaron Hayden, Lewis Alessandra and Omari Patrick.
But after getting themselves back on to level terms Wanderers nearly snatched a result through Thomason, who hit the post, and then had Peter Kioso sent off to complete the drama.
“It was crazy. I have mixed emotions,” Evatt said after the final whistle.
“We’d spoken about what type of team they were and how the game was going to be. You turn up and it’s gale force wind, heavy rain and everything is conducive to being direct and playing for set pieces.
“We just didn’t stand up well enough to it in the first half, we didn’t do the ugly side well enough.
“We want to be a good team and play football. But there are times when you just can’t and you have to get it up the pitch and play for second balls.
“We didn’t do it first half, we got wobbled by the first goal. Then it was two and three.
“We had a fightback where we should have got a stonewall penalty at 2-0 but when it went to three you thought it was game over.
“George scores, Nathan gets a half chance and we knew second half would be different. Again, for all our weight of pressure, we’re just not built for these conditions. We don’t have the centre-forward who are physical and can make it a handful, ours want the ball to feet and want to play and combine.
“We carried on and the most pleasing thing for me is their effort to get back into the game.
“For us to get the second, then nick another one, then George has a chance to make it 4-3 and hits the post. Peter gets sent off, in my view unjustly as one of the yellows was never a booking, it’s backs to the wall at the end. It was a crazy game.”
While Evatt was happy that his side pushed on to claim a point in the second half, he admits sloppy defending has once again become an all-too-regular occurrence in recent weeks.
“It’s a common theme for us, we’re losing games before trying to win them,” he said.
“When we get good results we tend to start fast, on the front foot. We looked at the conditions, we said all the right things, the players got all the right messages but when we came out on to the pitch we just did the complete opposite.
“When it went to 1-0 you are still in the game. You can’t let it go to two and certainly not to three. We have to be mentally stronger.”
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