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Ian Evatt found a “mad three minutes” after half time difficult to explain as his side took a point from a topsy turvy afternoon at Exeter City.
Two Sonny Cox goals at the start of the second half turned the game on its head after Paris Maghoma had put a dominant Wanderers ahead 33 minutes in.
That left Bolton scrambling again, and though Eoin Toal’s header ensured they took something back home to Lancashire, 948 travelling fans were left feeling that two points had been dropped.
Evatt was frustrated that his team had slumped so quickly after the restart.
He said: “I thought first half we were fantastic and dominated the game, massive control, but when you have that much dominance you have to turn it into reward and goals. We didn’t.
“Three minutes of absolute chaos and madness after half time, the initial bit seconds in, and it just changed the whole feeling within the stadium. It had been silent at half time because we had that much control but we conceded a crazy goal after half time and just didn’t reset - that was a collective issue – and it became two, which is unacceptable.
“To their credit they somehow found it within themselves to rally the last 10-15 minutes and looked the most likely to win it at the end but we do need to learn some lessons about that two or three minutes after half time.”
Wanderers had eight efforts at goal to Exeter’s one in the first half and hit the bar through Aaron Collins but found themselves once again chasing the game.
“That was the position we found ourselves in, not necessarily for anything that Exeter did well, it was self-inflicted so we have to learn from it and do better,” Evatt said.
“I can live with individual mistakes, I can live with one goal, it happens in football. But it was 1-1 and we still had a full half to go and win a game we had dominated.
“Yeah, they will have a bit of momentum for a few minutes but we had to manage that and take control again. We didn’t.”
Wanderers had chances to win the game after Toal’s equaliser but could not find the killer touch.
Much like Barnsley, they created enough chances and had enough possession in the final third of the pitch to have won the game comfortably but one thing has been missing in both games.
“We have to provide the finish,” Evatt admitted. “How many balls were flashed across the box and we didn’t pick anyone out? Aaron Collins hit the bar and we’d other opportunities where we just didn’t link the final pass or our finishing has been off.
“That was the case second-half on Tuesday and the same here, and we have to be better. When you come away from home and dominate like that you have to find goals.
“We have to graft and fight. We changed the way we played in the last 15 minutes and credit to the players they found a way to take something.”
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