The second half was a very different story, and there is no doubt that when combined with the first, it resulted in Bolton deserving to win the game. Not a point, not a scraped last-gasp draw, but an out-and-out win. As with Northampton, we didn’t have a shot in the second half, not one that was onside at least, and our xG was zero. Bolton poured forward, at times feeling like they were breaking down the door, with 13 shots, although just four were on target.
They made changes at half time: Erhahon’s difficult afternoon was brought to a close, while Josh Sheehan and Aaron Morley came on. They changed the pace of the game. Simons and Erhahon had not been able to get the better of McGrandles and Bayliss, but fresh legs handed Bolton the advantage and they did not let go until the final whistle.
They controlled possession, they controlled tempo and at times we were left forming a solid line of defence and letting them come at us. It was reminiscent of Mark Kennedy’s City, back when we took points at Ipswich and Barnsley. Backs to the wall, battling hard and fighting for everything. I felt quite proud of our defensive effort, nervous throughout, but also calmer than last season. It is not six months since we were handing goals to Barnsley and Leyton Orient like sweets at a kids’ party, but this defence looks more resolute.
It was not just the defence. In the sticks, the yellow shirt of Wickens feels like he has come of age. Last season, at times, was difficult for the former Fulham man, but I felt he was excellent yesterday. He commanded his area with the confidence of a prime Lukas Jensen, and was on hand to stop shots like the big Dane (and Rushworth, and Alex Palmer) when called upon. It is a vindication of our recruitment to a degree, as it shows faith in a player who went through the odd sticky patch last season.
I also want to single out Hamer. Playing right wing back, he had a big job on his hands with Conway, Cissoko and later Thierry Gale, but he did really well. He is a strong centre back in a two, a great right centre back in a three and a comfortable wing back as well. I lost count of the number of sliding tackles he put in, the number of times he tracked back hard, and he was my Man of the Match, despite the last-gasp disappointment.
Why did we retreat as we did? Partly it is inevitable. Our pressing game, high intensity and hard work leave players fatigued, so there is a natural drop-off. Their changes were effective, they used the ball better and wisely stretched the game, those full backs pressing high. It is psychological as well. The crowd got a little louder, they pressed higher, we fell back to combat that and naturally, it felt like we were sitting deep. We were, by the way, but I think we would have liked the first half to go as the second did. I do not think there is an instruction to go out and sit 15 yards deeper in the second half. Michael would want us further up the pitch, but sometimes we do not dictate tempo.
We did try to get extra legs on: Rob Street to use his pace, Ethan Hamilton to wrestle some control in the middle of the park and James Collins perhaps to nick a goal. His header, offside as it turned out, did almost double our lead, but it was a rare foray forward. I am sure given a chance, Michael would have liked to have made more changes, fresh legs in wider areas perhaps, but that is where we are. We have to make choices around our squad, and Bolton have more leeway to have players such as Gale, Sheehan and Morley waiting in the wings.
That said, we defended well, and Wickens made saves when called upon. One, from a free kick, showed a bit of naivety, but also justified the foul on Erhahon. McGrandles was bumped in a similar manner to our former midfielder, went down on the edge of the area, then handled, seemingly believing it was a free kick, and was punished. I think any player can make that sort of judgement in the heat of the moment, and it was the only real blot on McGrandles’ record this weekend, as he turned in another solid display.
The seven minutes of injury time in a game with so few stoppages was probably the right call, given our efforts at game management, but we were riding those out. The curious corner they conceded should have been the end of the game and it had me briefly howling. Their defender stopped the ball going out, but then saw the keeper go to retrieve a ball, and thought it must have gone. He then back-heeled the ball out of play, and the referee correctly gave a corner. It was the moment we needed to win the game.
I have a little issue with the short corner, hold-in-the-corner routine. This was 52 minutes into the second half, literally seconds left. Let me ask you this: how many times would we deliver a ball in from a corner and concede minutes later? I mean in a full 90 minutes, how many have we conceded when we have committed to a proper corner? Few, right? Often, one corner leads to another. For me, holding the ball in the corner is risky, and so often we lose possession. I can see what James Collins is trying to do, win another corner, but instead we coughed the ball up inside two seconds from our corner. They broke and scored.
Infuriating. I have no issue with Hamer, if he is not there, they still score, but that corner was the moment. All we needed to do was hold on to the ball. We could have booted it into row Z and still have been in a better place. The one thing we did not want to do was give them possession while 30% of our outfield players were standing in one corner, but we did. You cannot even call it naivety, as it came from the most experienced player on the pitch. I get the intent, but we were punished for one lapse in concentration. We made two (the McGrandles free kick) and were punished once.
1-1 at Bolton is a good result. Our last five trips there have been 3-0, 3-0, 2-0, 3-1 and 4-0 defeats. Our only goal there came three years ago, and taking seven points from nine is a huge boost after the disappointment of Wimbledon. That still does not soften the sting though, does it?
We now have two trips to Burton sandwiching three home matches in eight days, with four of those games coming in the space of a fortnight. It is a testing time for a wafer-thin squad, even with last week’s two new recruitments. My gut says there is one more to come in, but we really do need two, especially if we were to progress against Burton. The EFL Cup is a good chance for a plum tie, the EFL Trophy a good chance to earn a few quid, and the league rumbles on with us, once again, among the early pace setters.
The building blocks are there, the progress from the calamitous defending of last season is evident. We are becoming a team few want to face, a team everyone describes as organised and hard to beat, and that is what is needed.
Now, we just need bodies. Okonkwo and Varfolomeev fit and match-ready, and perhaps a new face or two adding depth for the testing schedule. If we can get that and stay injury free, I think Michael Skubala is on to something.