‘Paper Over The Cracks’ – Bolton Wanderers Win Does Little To Placate Supporters
Bolton Wanderers emerged victorious in a 3-2 win over Barrow in a pulsating EFL Trophy encounter at Holker Street.
The result might have been positive, but there is still disquiet from a fanbase rocked by the fact they’ve had a weak start to the season.
Ian Evatt made several changes to his Bolton side, with Nathan Baxter starting in goal and John McAtee leading the line for the League One outfit. Barrow started the brighter of the two sides, with Andy Dallas causing problems down the right wing early on. After 15 minutes, Dallas raced through, cutting inside to fire a powerful shot that Baxter did well to save. The rebound fell back to Dallas, but he blasted his follow-up effort over the crossbar.
As the first half wore on, Bolton grew into the game. Barrow’s momentum was disrupted when Junior Tiensa was brought down on the halfway line, earning the hosts a free-kick. Ben Jackson whipped in a dangerous ball from the set-piece, and veteran Sam Foley connected with an outstretched boot to put Barrow 1-0 up just before half-time.
After the break, Bolton responded strongly. Wyll Stanway, making his debut in goal for Barrow, did well to save a long-range effort, but the ball rebounded off the post and fell kindly for McAtee to tap home the equaliser.
The momentum shifted in Bolton’s favour, and they capitalised on their dominance. Aaron Collins curled in a stunning strike from distance, beating Stanway to give the Wanderers the lead. Just five minutes later, Kyle Dempsey made it 3-1 with a composed finish from close range, seemingly putting the game beyond Barrow’s reach.
However, the Bluebirds weren’t finished. In the 81st minute, Charlie Weston volleyed a ball towards Dallas, who took a neat touch and calmly slotted it into the bottom corner to give Barrow hope.
Despite late pressure from the hosts, Bolton held on to secure the 3-2 win, demonstrating their resilience and ability to bounce back from an early setback. The result leaves Bolton with a confidence boost ahead of their next League One fixture in a fortnight, but some supporters are still concerned with the club’s current trajectory, as you can see from the Twitter reaction below.
Difficult watch for the majority of it.
Not entirely sure what’s going on with the squad, but they need to snap out of it and crack on.
— Luke Robinson (@WanderasLuke) September 3, 2024
Players clearly look frustrated. We have serious quality. We’ve got 2 weeks now to get it right and go again
— Milldog (@milldog357) September 3, 2024
People often say that we have “serious quality”
I fail to see it. Maybe in flashes here and there but its a 90 minute game.
Give me 11 well drilled players who are hard to break down and focused on getting the basics done right and thats for me is enough to win a title.#bwfc
— HighWaters (@Highwaters__) September 4, 2024
Turned it off after 25minutes, awful game.
Hopefully the win doesn’t detract from the issues, serious change of tactics needed.— Paul Davies (@PD_1972) September 3, 2024
We play like we did first half against Huddersfield we will be 5-0 down jesus
— Matthew Ridley (@MatthewRid5506) September 3, 2024
paper over cracks, full strength team and we can’t beat barrows b team
— Bwfcpeter83 (@bwfcpeter44) September 3, 2024
Evatt out still
— Lewis Hurst (@lewi69605) September 3, 2024
Still looked quite sloppy though
— Nathan BWFC (staying down) (@Nathan_BWFC24) September 4, 2024
