Exeter 1-1 Bolton

Not a great start to the week with Kioso going back to Luton and John injuring himself already so not too hopeful we will get anything from this. Hopefully Lee starts and show his quality but other than that nothing to get excited about is there?

I predict a defeat, either 2-0 or 2-1

Exeter are huge favourites to beat us and they probably will but as usual in the days before a game I'm thinking about our chances - which depend on in part to what we do on the pitch and that's the bit that we can control to some extent. Kioso may be a wages sacrifice to get Lee - who had better be as good as his bravado suggests but I won't panic if it doesn't happen immediately.
3 nil Exeter according to my head.
Heart suggests the lads will click instantly, the Ian Evatt brand of attacking football finally comes to fruition and we demolish them nil 3.

Typical- new lad injured before he even plays.

Very sad that John’s not going to be fit, I was looking forward to seeing our new pair in action but never mind, our lousy luck streak strikes again! Difficult to forecast tonight because we don’t know if IE will stick to his 3 at the back or revert to a back four. Personally I’d drop Baptiste and have two proper full backs in Maskell and Brockbank using Lee as an extra man in midfield with The Pony Tail on the right and Delfouneso on the left for width. My big concern as always is our lack of firepower up front. We really do need someone else up there to hold the ball up and make space for Doyle and probably Sarcevic to get forward. I don’t see it being a high scoring game so I’ll go for 1-1 and a worthy point.

Preview: Exeter City vs. Bolton Wanderers


Bolton Wanderers are back in action after a ten-day break between games as they travel down to Exeter City for a Sky Bet League Two fixture at St James’ Park.

Pre-Match Quotes:

Ian Evatt: “We’ve been working hard these past 10 days on different things. Am I going to tell you what I’m going to do? No, of course not. We have worked extremely hard for 10 days, the lads have trained exceptionally well.

“There are lots of benefits from the extra training time we've had recently. There's been plenty of hard graft and we'll see how the players react at Exeter on Tuesday evening."

Matt Taylor: (On the Grecians Emirates FA Cup exit to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend) “I am really disappointed because it is a missed opportunity.

“We spoke before the game about what a fantastic opportunity it was for this club and this group of players, but we just didn’t have quite enough.

“We didn’t work as hard as the game went on and we became disappointed with ourselves, disappointed with our mistakes.

“If you don’t want to make mistakes, then play better than we did at times.

“We played well in patches, but I am disappointed with the nature of the personalities of that group of players as the game went on.


How to watch:

Wanderers supporters can watch the clash with Exeter City by purchasing an iFollow BWFC video match pass for just £10 you don’t have to miss a kick.

An iFollow BWFC video match pass will ensure supporters do not miss a minute of the action, with the entire match streamed through any compatible laptop, computer, tablet or mobile device in the United Kingdom.


Team News:

Wanderers will be without defender Peter Kioso who has returned to his parent club Luton Town after they exercised their right to recall him from his loan spell.

Reiss Greenidge will serve a one-match suspension following his red card in Wanderers’ last outing against Crawley Town.

Evatt will be without new loan signing Declan John after the defender sustained a hamstring injury in training, while new recruit Kieran Lee could be in line to make his Wanderers debut.


Bookies Odds:

Exeter City win: 3/4

Draw: 11/4

Bolton Wanderers win: 16/5

Correct as of 12/01/2021 (9.30am) on skybet.com


Form:

Ian Evatt’s men will be looking to bounce back from their narrow defeat to Crawley Town last time out and build on their previous away performance where they came back from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Carlisle United.

With Kieran Lee now in their ranks, Wanderers have an exciting and experienced player who played 20-plus games for Sheffield Wednesday in the Sky Bet Championship last season.

Prior to the weekend's FA Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Exeter draw at home against Forest Green Rovers and lost at home to Harrogate Town. Since a 4-1 win at Grimsby Town at the start of December, the Grecians have won just once - that was an emphatic 5-0 home victory against Tranmere Rovers.


Last time out:

Wanderers picked up a 4-1 victory against the Grecians in the last match between these two sides when they met at Burnden Park in March 1993.

Goals from Tony Kelly, Jason McAteer, Andy Walker and John McGinlay sealed the points for Bruce Rioch’s men as they went on to eventually finish second and win automatic promotion to the second tier.


Match Officials:

Referee: Sam Allison.

Assistant Referees: Robert Dabbs and Mark Derrien.

Fourth Official: Adam Ricketts.

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Lee starts but in place of Thomason which is hard on the lad as he's looked decent.

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Good point and a very lively chatbox for a change 

From 30 Mins to 70 mins was some of the worst football ever but a good finish and a good point.

Again, only played after we went a goal down second half. Still a good point really given they hit the bar last minute. We’re close to being a good side, but still not quite right. I’d start Arthur over Delf on the left if we’re playing 433 and ditch Delaney now.

Gutted I missed this match and the usual crowd on Chatbox. Let's just say the missus was demanding and given that we're in the process of moving house under lockdown and have to move into a rental in a week or so while we knock walls down in the new pad I think it's fair to say that my attentions were needed elsewhere and I obliged. She had some serious stress in need of relief and so did I although I do think I'm not generally feeling as romantic as i once did - perhaps that's the clock kicking in?
So I'm reliant on your incisive analysis re Lee, 433 and performance. Tell me the way it is - I can take it.

And top spot Whitesince

We played ok but didn't create much especially first half. I was disappointed with Delfouneso and Isgrove as both were poor tonight, we definitely need more options in wide areas. Gnahoua did well when he came on and scored.

Delaney was at fault for their goal, he let their player get to the bye line far too easily and as usual we only start to play when they score. We were hanging on at the end as they hit the bar and Gilks made some good saves. Still a good point against a team in the playoff positions.

Surely you could have tuned in after the first 5 minutes when you'd finished your husbandly duties eh Lusty? 

Report: Exeter City 1-1 Bolton Wanderers


Arthur Gnahoua came off the bench to earn Bolton Wanderers a point after he cancelled out a Ricardo Almeida Santos own-goal in a hectic second half.

The forward netted his second goal in a Wanderers shirt just two minutes after replacing Nathan Delfouneso as Ian Evatt’s men came back from behind to take home a deserved share of the spoils.

The Wanderers manager made two changes to his starting XI as Bolton Wandrers returned to league action after a ten-day break.

Ryan Delaney and new signing Kieran Lee came in for the suspended Reiss Greenidge and George Thomason who both dropped to the bench.

Andrew Tutte produced a well-timed sliding tackle early on at the expense of a corner after Ryan Delaney lost possession near the corner flag to Ryan Bowman.

Wanderers earned a corner themselves shortly afterwards when Lloyd Isgrove and Antoni Sarcevic combined with the latter firing in a low cross that came off Pierce Sweeney.

At the other end, Matt Jay guided the ball over the bar at the near post after Josh Key crossed in from the far side. A presentable opportunity spurned by the home side.

Tutte’s tame effort from distance trickled wide after some trickery from Delfouneso over on the left resulted in him finding the midfielder in space.

Delfouneso did have the ball in the net shortly afterwards for Wanderers, although the flag was eventually put up, after Eoin Doyle and Lee combined well in the danger area.

Wanderers had a let-off when Joel Randall found Jake Taylor in space just outside the box after some neat play down the left flank, but the Grecians captain fired well over Gilks’ bar.

Wanderers best chance of the half fell to their leading scorer Doyle who charged down the right-hand side after being released by Tutte before seeing his shot turned wide excellently by the feet of Jonny Maxted in the Exeter goal with the ball going out for a throw-in.

A lucky reprieve for Wanderers saw the ball rebound off the foot of the post after Bowman rounded Gilks in the box, but the ‘keeper had the last laugh when it landed in his hands after coming back off the woodwork.

Gilks was then well placed shortly afterwards to tip over a venomous Jay free-kick from 18 yards after Sarcevic had conceded the foul.

Shortly after the restart, the Wanderers keeper made another vital save to keep out Randall after the striker latched on to Bowman’s flick on to have a straight run at Gilks.

Not long after, Sarcevic was shown a yellow for dissent after appearing to disagree with a refereeing decision.

The hosts got themselves in front after 62 minutes when Almeida Santos inadvertently guided Jay’s cross into the box past his team-mate Gilks.

Wanderers made a double change ten minutes later with Crawford and Gnahoua coming on for Lee and Delfouneso.

And Gnahoua scored with virtually his first touch just two minutes after coming on to level up matters after he got on the end of Sarcevic’s centre.

The goalscorer shot narrowly wide after Brockbank set him up when Isgrove’s cross had fallen into the defender’s path. The Frenchman had the bit between his teeth and posed a real threat for the hosts to worry about.

Wanderers were certainly looking increasingly stronger since equalising.

Brockbank and Gnahoua combined well on the nearside with the striker shooting narrowly wide once again with a low, curling right footer.

Maxted had to be sharp to keep out Isgrove’s pile-driver after Parkes lost possession in a dangerous area with Doyle finding the winger.

Right at the death, Gilks made a great save to keep out substitute Jack Sparke’s strike from distance.

From the resulting corner, fellow sub Nigel Antangana saw an acrobatic effort clip the top of the bar with just seconds remaining.

Despite a late flurry from the hosts, Wanderers held on to claim a deserved point.


Exeter City: Maxted, Caprice (Hartridge 81), Sweeney, Parkes, Page (Sparkes 63), Key, Taylor (Atangana 56), Collins, Randall (Seymour 81), Jay (Law 81), Bowman.

Unused Subs: Ward, McArdle.

Goal: Almeida Santos OG (62).


Bolton Wanderers: Gilks, Jones, Almeida Santos, Delaney, Brockbank, Tutte, Lee (Crawford 71), Sarcevic, Isgrove, Delfouneso (Gnahoua 71), Doyle.

Unused Subs: Crellin, Baptiste, Mascoll, Thomason, Darcy.

Goal: Gnahoua (73)

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Norpig wrote:We played ok but didn't create much especially first half. I was disappointed with Delfouneso and Isgrove as both were poor tonight, we definitely need more options in wide areas. Gnahoua did well when he came on and scored.

Delaney was at fault for their goal, he let their player get to the bye line far too easily and as usual we only start to play when they score. We were hanging on at the end as they hit the bar and Gilks made some good saves. Still a good point against a team in the playoff positions.

Surely you could have tuned in after the first 5 minutes when you'd finished your husbandly duties eh Lusty? 

It takes half an hour for the blue pill to kick in
Saw the highlights and it looked like Gilks flapped at the last one but I guess we can't complain about a tough away point. The next few games are all tough though - hopefully it will click soon.

This should have been 3 points in the bag, Exeter were rubbish and for me it’s yet another 2 points dropped. Once again, the same under performers lived up to their usual inept performances. Someone please tell me what Isgrove actually delivers because I’m missing it I’m afraid? Delfouneso once again is anonymous for 90% of the game yet always starts. Does anybody other than Evatt really think that either of these produces more for the team that Darcy would, yet he’s constantly overlooked? Also don’t be confused with Gnahoua’s cameo performance, we’ve seen enough of him already to know last night was a high point but he’ll soon be back to his average normal. Lee looks a good signing and I’m sure will make a positive difference when he settles in but dropping Thomason seems questionable. As for the defence, Delaney has been poor for weeks and I’m still not convinced with Santos. A back four looks the right decision but until John is fit, which hopefully won’t be long now, surely Maskell as a proper left footer must be a better option than either Brocky or Jones. I’ve been behind Evatt so far but I’m afraid I’m rapidly losing confidence that he has the ability to change our fortunes. Let’s see what he does with the rest of the window and we get more of the team he’s assembled but up to now, my jury is well out.

Have to agree about Isgrove, he deserved a chance as Crawford had been poor but he's not taken that chance for me. Delfouneso is another one but at least he does pop up with goals.

It was a bit harsh to drop Thomason as he had been the only bright spark these last few weeks. I;m glad we've gone back to a back 4 and i'm sure John would have started if he wasn't injured. It's obvious Evatt doesn't rate Mascoll or Gordon so they need to go to make room i would say.

I'm still prepared to give Evatt the benefit of the doubt as some of the players may have been forced on him. He now needs to stamp his authority on this team and have the chance to get in some players he actually wants. Till then we have to stick with him i think.

After saying that though i would love to see the Cowleys in charge at Bolton at some point.

Bolton, now, are paying for the bad start to the season.

sunlight wrote:Bolton, now, are paying for the bad start to the season.

Yup... not dumping Crellin earlier cost us a lot of potential points.  We lost the first four matches being shut out.  Five points from those four matches would have put us near the top seven now.  That discounts the rest of the miscues that cost us points in October.  Let's hope we stay closer to the top seven than the bottom this season.

I think we did well under the circumstances. The football on display wasn't great but we played with heart and fought well. Before the match I'd have taken a point and I'm happy with it. And I also second the view on last night's chatbox, it was fun and I really enjoyed it.