BWFC 1-0 Hull

FT 1-0!!

We were lucky again today but it feels good to be back out of the bottom 3

In parky we trust.. fuck off martin

Report: Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Hull City

Gary Madine's ninth goal of the campaign was enough for Wanderers to pick up all three points against Hull City and start 2018 with a bang on New Year's Day.

The big striker hit the decisive effort with 20 minutes on the clock, with his beautifully crafted free-kick leaving Allan McGregor with no hope.

And come full time, his goal was the difference as Bolton ran out winners.

TEAM NEWS

Phil Parkinson made four changes from the team that beat Sheffield United at Bramall Lane at the weekend as Bolton Wanderers looked to build on that sterling performance in front of their own fans at Macron Stadium.

Sammy Ameobi returned to the starting XI after recovering from a knee injury that prevented his inclusion against the Blades, while Will Buckley, Josh Vela and Mark Little came back into the fore at the expense of David Wheater, Josh Cullen, Filipe Moraidand Adam Le Fondre, who were all named among the substitutes.

FIRST HALF

The opening exchanges offered very little in terms of attacking intent with both defences firmly on top. The tempo wasn’t helped by the swirling wind and rain which had engulfed Macron Stadium.

Wanderers suffered an early blow after they lost Karl Henry in the 13th minute to what appeared to be a leg injury. Josh Cullen was the like for like replacement.

The hosts had their first real chance shortly afterwards after Hull failed to clear a free-kick into their box. Gary Madine, the hero of Bramall lane, produced some lovely control just outside the penalty box to fashion a chance, but his shot cannoned off a defender before going for a corner.

Madine then sent the Macron into raptures of delight when his rasping 20-yard free-kick flew beyond Allan McGregor with marvellous majesty.

Not renowned for his shooting prowess from set-pieces, the big striker looked to be a mere distraction for the Hull defence as the left-footed splendour of Ameobi appeared to be shaping up to shoot. However, Madine’s effort couldn’t have been struck any sweeter as Wanderers took the lead in serene style.

Ben Alnwick was pressed into making his first save on the half hour mark after a lovely passage of play from Hull culminated in the Wanderers keeper making the vital block at the expense of a corner off a Jarod Bowen effort.

Wanderers again had to make an enforced change immediately afterwards with captain Darren Pratley limping off and Morais coming on for the midfielder.

The two unfortunate changes stymied the rhythm Wanderers had orchestrated for themselves and Alnwick, on his 31st birthday, again had to make another important save diving to his right – to keep out Markus Henriksen’s 25 yard free kick.

Ameobi looked to respond and his run ended with a low, powerfully struck drive, which went wide of McGregor’s left hand post.

Morais spurned a good opportunity to double Wanderers’ lead just before the break after he latched on to Madine’s flick after Jon Toral slipped. The wideman was unable to keep his volley on target.

SECOND HALF

Bowen should have restored parity moments after the restart when Nouha Dicko’s low centre from the right flank flashed across goal. The Tigers forward inexplicably put the shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

Ameobi had another powerful shot but again it went wide as the poor weather conditions showed no sign of letting up.

Wanderers seemed determined to find that second though and Little was unlucky to see a volley cleared away.

Morais then had a taste of the action when his header off a Vela centre was cleared for a corner.

The hosts were certainly stepping up after a sluggish start to the second period, but were susceptible on the counter.

Alnwick, not for the first time, came to Wanderers’ rescue with a fine block to keep out Henriksen after the Tigers countered at breakneck speed.

Hull made a double attacking substitution just after the hour mark with Fraizer Campbell and Seb Larsson coming for Dicko and Stewart.

Mark Beevers produced a crucial tackle to thwart Bowen but despite Hull’s chances, Wanderers looked comfortable at dealing with anything they threw at them.

Nigel Adkins’ made his final change of the afternoon with Evandro coming on for Henriksen with ten minutes remaining.

A snapshot from Morais went just over the bar as Wanderers buoyed by the 14,216 crowd endeavoured to get a decisive second.

Beevers once again got his body in the way of a Bowen shot as the intensity was heating up at both ends.

Le Fondre came on for Buckley for the final five minutes to give the hosts a different dimension.

And although the visitors pushed for a leveller inside the final stages of the clash, a resolute Bolton backline rebuffed their advances to hold out for their second victory in three days.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A difficult game to watch at times spattered with some flashes of excitement.
Bolton broke the deadlock when Gaz stepped up to dispatch a Beckhamesque effort mid way through the first half from his 25 yard free kick.
Possession was wasted a lot but effort wasn't lacking.
The second half was an improvement and Morais made a difference to our attacking threat. Cullen also played his part and we didn't really miss Pratley or Henry in the middle after they both went off injured early in the game.
Ameobi showed flashes of brilliance here and there and Madine continued to win battles and show his own flashes of creativity with super hold up play and little back heels.

Robinson had a mixed game on the left and a few things just didn't come off for him. Vela was solid as he moved back into central midfield and it helped to make us more creative as the second half progressed.

A few scares in front of the Bolton goal were normally matched with good saves, industrious blocks or slices of luck where required.
Let Fondre was introduced for the final few minutes and his great work with Ameobi brought a huge chance for Madine who nearly sealed the deal but saw his header fly just wide.
Fact is, 3 more points go on the board for Bolton but with the same amount of effort and a bit more aptitude I think we can go up another gear or two.
On a final note Madine was also key in injury time when he made two or three vital headed clearances.

Biggie wrote:A difficult game to watch at times spattered with some flashes of excitement.
Bolton broke the deadlock when Gaz stepped up to dispatch a Beckhamesque effort mid way through the first half from his 25 yard free kick.
Possession was wasted a lot but effort want lacking.
The second half was an improvement and Morais made a difference to our attacking threat. Cullen also played his part and we didn't really miss Pratley or Henry in the middle after they both went off injured early in the game.
Ameobi showed flashes of brilliance here and there and Madine continued to win battles and show his own flashes of creativity with sir hold up play and little back heels.

Robinson had a mixed game on the left and a few things just didn't come off for him. Vela was solid as he moved back into central midfield and it helped to make us more creative as the second half progressed.

A few scares in front of the Bolton goal were normally matched with good saves, industrious blocks or slices of luck where required.
Let Fondre was introduced fit the final few minutes and his great work with Ameobi bright a huge chance for Madine who nearly sealed the deal but saw his header fly just wide.
Fact is, 3 more points go on the board for Bolton but with the same amount of effort and a bit more aptitude I think we can go up another gear or two.
On a final note Madine was also key in injury tune when he made two or three vital headed clearances.  

Spot on Biggie... Lady Luck was our 12th player today... but Madine should have sealed it... but ran out of gas (gaz?).

Another solid display rode our luck late on but played some nice stuff at times, can't fault the work rate and little parky could do in the way of changes after the early injuries. 5th bottom who would have thought that in September.

If that's where we finish the season, I,ll be a happy camper!

wanderlust wrote:We were lucky again today

You massive gobshite.

Lucky? They had one clear cut chance when they hit the post. We scored one and Madine should have had a second near the end. They had a lot of the ball but did very little with it.

We lost, arguably, our best player early on and then his midfield partner limped off a few minutes later. Yet they still only had one good chance.

There was nothing lucky about it. We worked hard, scored a good goal, and defended it about as well as any team could.

I'm sure your armchair knows better though.

I thought the back four were outstanding today, plus the goalkeeper. Burke especially was rock solid and won everything that came near him.

Cullen, Vela, Morais & Madine worked tirelessly, 10/10 for effort. Ameobi 7/10.

Only negative was Buckley. He's fucking shite. Why the fuck did Parky pick him? The fuckwit didn't control a single pass all afternoon.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I thought the back four were outstanding today, plus the goalkeeper. Burke especially was rock solid and won everything that came near him.

Cullen, Vela, Morais & Madine worked tirelessly, 10/10 for effort. Ameobi 7/10.

Only negative was Buckley. He's fucking shite. Why the fuck did Parky pick him? The fuckwit didn't control a single pass all afternoon.

Buckley appears to have brick feet. His first touch is appalling. Thought we were going to blow it at the death,but we stuck it out.
Horrendous conditions,but a good three points.

I think the conditions did a lot to make it a scrappy game, as has been said Buckley offers less than fuck all, Vela immense today and Madine looks like he's playing for a move, and boggers fuck off back to your dream world.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:We were lucky again today

You massive gobshite.

Lucky? They had one clear cut chance when they hit the post. We scored one and Madine should have had a second near the end. They had a lot of the ball but did very little with it.

We lost, arguably, our best player early on and then his midfield partner limped off a few minutes later. Yet they still only had one good chance.

There was nothing lucky about it. We worked hard, scored a good goal, and defended it about as well as any team could.

I'm sure your armchair knows better though.

My armchair - and the live TV stream - told me that in addition to hitting the post,, Alnwick made good saves from Toral, Aina, Bowen and Henriksen before Bowen missed a sitter and Evandro went close. In the context of a scrappy game which could have gone either way we were lucky not to concede one or more.

I'm sure your warped imagination knows better though.

From inside the ground, it felt for the most part a comfortable one nil lead, can't be denied that we rode our luck late on twice, but i think the other shots that you list were nothing more than shots on target, but i hold my hands up i couldn't see the TV screen from the west stand lower.

How we won was beyond me- we certainly had luck on our side today. But its time that we had some luck. We're still not out of the woods yet. Lets see if he can work some magic in the transfer period ,shifting a few out to free up some funds to bring a few in.

It is great to see us playing it along the floor and mixing it up a bit today. Always said we need to just stop lumping the ball up all the time. Saturday and today proved me to be right. In both games we mixed our play up which kept the opposition guessing. The lads did well both Saturday and today hopefully it's made Parky realise that we we can actually take the game to teams. A few signings in now this month and we should be good to go. Finally I would like to add, although Madine is getting all the plaudits he deserves, fans should not forget about Alnwick who had made some brilliant saves the last couple of games. He made sure we won after going ahead, well done.

When i saw the team i went mad, why had he changed it again, but we actually played pretty well especially in the 1st half. A great goal from goal machine and even the loss of Pratley and Henry didn't matter too much as Vela and Cullen were both excellent.
We actually played a lot more football as well which was great to see but as mentioned Buckley had a shocker.
As usual we sat back 2nd half and invited pressure and maybe we were lucky not to concede but over the 90 minutes we were the better team.
My only worry is what happens if Pratley and more importantly Henry are out for a while. I wasn't a fan of Cullen but he is starting to show he's a decent player and we could do with keeping him now and Burke who was excellent as well.
A great win in awful conditions, at one point my lower legs and feet went numb but it was worth it 

Buckley will get better I believe in him. Rememer he's been out with injured rather frequently. A run of few games and he will come good.

KA has gone quiet... the window is open and what plans does he have for the club?  Are we under an embargo or not?  Great play today, but still lucky to hold them off when we sat deep in the final 15 minutes.  Alnwick had a great game and Lady Luck steered a couple of their chances astray.  Madine should have had two... but his legs were gone from running and having their defense all over him.  He ran his butt off today.