Bolton 3-0 Doncaster

The result was spot on. We had a lot of attempts at goal, albeit mainly from long range and narrow angles. Doncaster came for a 0-0 draw, and their defence didn't know what day it was. They were probably the most pathetic side I've seen at the Reebok in 18 months of Championship football. 
The biggest positive from the match was Moritz, who was knocking the ball around brilliantly all match. Mason ran his socks off and looks a decent talent, but isn't a lone striker in a million years.

Great win today, but there are some piss poor teams out there, and then there's Doncaster Rovers, just about the worst team I've ever seen at the Reebok stadium!!!!!!!!

We played like champions today, have some really good players and not even got going yet, other teams are running out of ideas and we've just got one good one, going up.

I can see us making that sixth spot , we've set the standard today winning 3-0 and Blackpool have got hammered of a team we beat, so having just become warm we will roll on from here like a steamroller gone mad.

I love Freedman right now, all I will say to him is unleash the beasts for our feasts.

I love this club and Gartside deserves more credit you negative wankers.

  

Can this not go in the match thread? A load of pointless threads on here lately..

Donny were excellent today, but we were something else.

Good result and a good performance but certainly not going to get carried away by beating probably the worst side I have probably ever seen at the reebok in recent years.

We look much better with 2 attacking mid players and Spearing sitting deep instead of Spea and Medo at home.

Man of the match for me was Chungy, whether he is after a move away in January, or he has decided to step it up for next years world cup it's working, he's over his leg break that's for sure.

Great to see so many of our attacking players have a good game, but as others are saying let's not get carried away Doncaster are poor. Hopefully this result will give Dougie some more confidence in us having enough going forward to attack teams.

Brilliant performance. Never in any danger, except when they hit the post at 0-0.

Loved every minute of it. Especially Moritz who was the man who made everything tick. He brought players into the game all day.

I don't remember the last time we dominated so much and created so many attacking chances. It could have been 10-0.

Big improvement. Lets hope we can sustain it and push on. We need to put back to back results together and go on a decent run if we're gonna have any chance of the play offs.

Really enjoyed today 3 didn't really reflect our superiority such a shame we flopped on Tuesday.

A fit Moritz  could be really interesting one pass today was worth the entrance fee alone.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Reebok Trotter wrote:Bolton 3 Donny 0

 

Your act is becoming tiresome RT, being the site WUM doesn't suit you.

Oh ye of little faith.  

  Oh NAT??????????????

Reebok Trotter wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Reebok Trotter wrote:Bolton 3 Donny 0

 

Your act is becoming tiresome RT, being the site WUM doesn't suit you.

Let's see come 4.45 on Saturday.

Well?....... 

I wish there was way we could have full highlights of that game, the passes and the chances. It was sweet...

Report: Bolton 3-0 Doncaster

Bolton Wanderers returned to winning ways after confidently brushing aside Doncaster Rovers at the Reebok.

First-half goals from Joe Mason and Andre Moritz and a late Neil Danns strike were decisive on an afternoon that in truth should have ended in a far greater margin of victory.

TEAM NEWS

Bolton rang the changes, with five new faces coming into the starting XI following the disappointing midweek defeat at the hands of Huddersfield.

Of those, the most notable saw Chris Eagles, fit again following a groin strain, deployed in midfield whilst the on-loan Mason spearheaded the frontline.

FIRST HALF

Bolton started the game on the front-foot, but for all their dominance the opening 15 minutes yielded just one attempt on goal worthy of any note; Moritz firing an ambitious volley from distance wide.

On their maiden visit to the Reebok the visitors rarely threatened, though on the 20-minute mark Theo Robinson rose highest in the Bolton area to head Mark Duffy’s out-swinging corner against the post.

That scare then sparked the home side into life, who responded with a flurry of chances of their own.

Darren Pratley, another of those restored to the starting team, lashed a volley wide from Moritz’s left-wing cross before the Brazilian then saw a rasping effort of his own deflect narrowly over the crossbar.

As half-time approached the game had a distinct pattern; Doncaster defending deep for large periods, looking to spring the counter when winning possession.

But after some last-ditch defending the visitors then shot themselves in the foot on 34 minutes.

Enda Stevens’ blind pass infield was intercepted. Moritz then clipped a ball over the defence onto which Mason pounced, who after wriggling away from his marker saw a shot deflect in off a covering defender. One for the dubious goals panel.

The constant pressure began to tell. Mason’s fully volley brought a smart reflect save out of Ross Turnbull, though there was nothing the ex-Chelsea stopper could do to prevent Bolton’s second on 39 minutes.

Moritz engineered half-a-yard of space and let fly with his left foot from 25 yards. His low drive skidded along the damp Reebok turf before kissing the inside of the post on its way into the back of the net.

Doncaster looked out of their depth and would have been relieved when referee Richard Clark brought the opening 45 to an end.

HALF TIME

With Bolton firmly in control, the impetus was very much on Paul Dickov’s side to change flow of the game. Despite the introduction of burly striker Chris Brown, the game assumed a similar pattern.

The two first-half goals had afforded Wanderers a comfortable cushion. Try as they may, Doncaster lacked any cutting edge going forward.

A further 25 minutes of play passed, with Bolton by and large untroubled aside from a long-range strike from Robinson.

It was one-way traffic as time wore on.

On 76 minutes Matt Mills crashed home a powerful header only for the referee’s assistant to spot an infringement before Moritz, revelling in front of the home fans, stung the palms of Turnbull from a tight angle.

Substitutes Danns added an extra gloss to the result, with his low strike beating Turnbull in stoppage time as Bolton ultimately won the game at a canter.

FULL TIME

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A few words from Dougie:

"I have watched Doncaster a few times this season and they are a very good side, but I thought it was our day."

"We looked sharp and we took our chances at the right time, which always helps. Overall, it is a credit to the lads."

"The link-up play between the midfield and attack was superb. Andre Moritz was outstanding throughout."

"The challenge now is for the team to get some consistency. If we can then we will climb the league table very quickly."

It was an amazing performance, all the more so after the horror show against Huddersfield. I credit Dougie with the win for ringing the changes in both the line up and the tactics. For the first time this season we looked like a Premier League side and it makes our poor start all the harder to understand. With this line up and in this sort of form we really should be in the top six comfortably if not the top two. It was breathtaking to watch. Some on here have said Doncaster were poor but the truth is they weren't ALLOWED to play. We killed everything they tried and by the end of the first half hour we'd killed the game and their self-confidence stone dead. I've seen Doncaster play a few times this season and they are a decent outfit but we made them look like losers right from the word go. Instead of saying they were bad let's credit the Trotters here, we MADE them look poor. 

I still have reservations about Dougie and they won't die based on a single performance BUT the truth is that the two straight defeats we just suffered might well turn out to be nothing more than a mild blip if he keeps this kind of line up and tactical setup going. Honestly, we looked, sounded and felt like winners today and everything we did worked. Yes we missed some chances and it could have been ten never mind three but that was an awesome overall performance and I'm not going to be critical of what for my money was our best single display since relegation. We buried Doncaster, steamrollered them and left them looking like a League Two outfit when in truth they're a decent championship side. We were ruthless, utterly merciless and showed a killer instinct that has been lacking for too long and in that form I'd put money on us to get a positive result against anybody in the country, even the likes of Man Utd and Arsenal. 

For one glorious afternoon I felt we were back in the 'White Hot' years or back in the BSA era where a certain French bloke was chucking his tie onto the pitch 'cos his supposedly 'world class' outfit couldn't cope with little old Bolton Wanderers. Long may it continue.

luckyPeterpiper wrote: Some on here have said Doncaster were poor but the truth is they weren't ALLOWED to play.

I don't agree. They had Macheda and Robinson up front who were giving the ball away under no pressure all game. The pair of them were awful. They had a number 7 who got a lot of time and space on the ball but didn't want to do anything but play it backwards. I thought it summed them up when their keeper was nearly booked for time-wasting after 15 minutes.
I think most people would agree that the best thing about us was Moritz's passing, but the ease at which he was finding Eagles/Lee/Mason in miles of space struck me as too good to be true.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:It was an amazing performance, all the more so after the horror show against Huddersfield. I credit Dougie with the win for ringing the changes in both the line up and the tactics. For the first time this season we looked like a Premier League side and it makes our poor start all the harder to understand. With this line up and in this sort of form we really should be in the top six comfortably if not the top two. It was breathtaking to watch. Some on here have said Doncaster were poor but the truth is they weren't ALLOWED to play. We killed everything they tried and by the end of the first half hour we'd killed the game and their self-confidence stone dead. I've seen Doncaster play a few times this season and they are a decent outfit but we made them look like losers right from the word go. Instead of saying they were bad let's credit the Trotters here, we MADE them look poor. 

Ha ha, funniest paragraph on here in months.

Amazing performance? Breathtaking? Premier League side? I strongly advise you consider stand-up, you are a natural comedian.

I understand your point doffcocker BUT we put them under that pressure, in all honesty I think we left them nowhere to go. I won't say Doncaster were brilliant by any means but we really did a number on their heads from the kick off. By half an hour in they were like rabbits caught in headlights and although I understand some people on here would sooner swallow a bucket of disinfectant than say we played superbly at ANY time I dislike the penchant for saying we're carp when we lose and then 'the opposition are rubbish' when we win because they find it impossible to give any credit whatsoever to the team they allegedly support. 

Perhaps I was a bit over-enthusiastic in my praise of the lads BUT I'd rather be over-supportive than look for any possible excuse to avoid saying 'We were great and the manager got it spot on' like SOME people on here. I stand by my comment about us looking like a Premier League outfit though; we did and the manner in which we allowed our attacking players to go for it, the style in which we played the game was a welcome change from some of the recent 'back to the wall and hope to nick a goal' tactics Dougie has employed. I understand why he did it and it certainly plugged the leaks at the back; now it seems Mr Freedman may have decided that the defence is as good as it's going to get right now and it's time we let some of the 'talent' we're supposed to have in midfield and attack try a more open and entertaining method of going for wins from the off. 

Are we the finished article? Of course not but you can't tell me that the only reason we won 3 - 0 was because Doncaster were rubbish, we got lucky and really it was nothing to do with the manager or the players on our side. Just for once I wish some people on this board would give credit where it's damned well due. The lineup was spot on, the tactics were a treat to watch and so was the play and we got three goals that maybe should have been five or six without conceding any or ever looking like we would. It was, without question, the best performance I've witnessed this season and in form like this I'd back us against anyone in this division and even several of the teams in the division above. 

If I have one great frustration it's that we seem to be a bit schizophrenic right now. I was there for the Huddersfield Horror Show where Dougie and the lads got just about everything wrong and it seems impossible to see such two diametrically opposing performances in such a short space of time. I know he made five changes to the team and used totally different tactics but I can't help wondering if maybe he believes that BWFC fans aren't happy unless totally confused and totally unable to predict which BWFC team is going to show up today. (Joking of course)

So yes, I went overboard on the praise but not by as much as some people might think, partly because I'm tired of people refusing to give him or the team any sort of credit no matter what they do. We played well, really well and if Doncaster were poor a lot of that was down to us making them look poor and we did everything we could to stifle everything they tried and did it well. We won the battle everywhere, both on the pitch and in their heads. Well done Bolton Wanderers and Kudos to Dougie Freedman for an excellent all round display of professional and highly entertaining football.