MATCH REACTION: Ian Evatt gives his verdict on Wanderers' win at BarrowIan Evatt was glad to see two of his strikers grab their first goals of the season in the 3-2 victory at Barrow in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.John McAtee and Aaron Collins scored in the second half at Holker Street before Kyle Dempsey added a third in an entertaining opening group fixture.
There were downsides to the night – Evatt was upset that his side conceded the opening goal to Sam Foley from a set piece, and Jordi Osei-Tutu was taken off injured in the first half.
But the Bolton boss was generally pleased with the way the night went against his former club.
“I think we had control and dominance first half we just didn’t end our actions enough,” he said. “We got into the final third loads of times but we were just a bit loose at the top end.
“I think sometimes players drift in and out of confidence and the lads at the top end are trying to find some confidence, rhythm and belief.
“We were disappointed to concede from a set play again. They were dangerous on transition and on set plays, that was about it really, and we didn’t deal with it well. We didn’t deal with it well because Saturday we conceded from two set plays and tonight a set play, that is not like us because we have tightened up a lot. We need to do some more work on that.
“We got there in the end, a knock down from the keeper and followed it in well. Everyone sighed and thought ‘so we can score goals!’ It becomes easy to forget. We scored a lot of goals last season and I think we will score a lot this season too, it is not as though we are not creating chances. We had 21 shots to their six against Exeter on Saturday and everyone makes out it was an awful performance, it wasn’t.
“We just have to stay calm, stay focussed and we will get better. I think that’s seven games this season and if you include the penalty shoot-out we have won four of them. So it isn’t awful but we know it needs to be better and we will work hard to make things better.”
Collins improved in the second half to spear-head the comeback, having hit the crossbar with a crucial chance against Exeter at the weekend.
Evatt hopes that the Welshman can now kick on as a result.
“He is a quality player and I think all the forward players at the moment are not quite in form,” the manager said. “Hopefully that can kickstart Aaron’s season, he was disappointed to miss that big chance on Saturday and it is not like him, really, he is normally clinical in those moments.
“Tonight will do him the world of good and I am really pleased for them all. We were down to 11 senior players with the internationals away and I thought their attitude was first class. We deserved to win the game.”
On Osei-Tutu’s injury, Evatt hoped the problem would not be a major one. The wing-back walked back on to the team bus under his own steam after a first half collision with Junior Tenisiala.
“We are hopeful it is nothing too serious,” he said. “He had quite a nasty knee injury last season when he was on loan in the Greek Premier League. When he fell over he jarred it in the ground a little bit, I think he scared himself. I think it is nothing too serious.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Barrow boss Clemence on Bolton 'quality' and missed chances[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Barrow boss Stephen Clemence admitted Bolton’s “quality” was the difference following an entertaining Bristol Street Motors Trophy tie at Holker Street.John McAtee, Aaron Collins and Kyle Dempsey were all on target as the Whites kicked off the group stage with maximum points.
Clemence was pleased with his side’s effort after making seven changes from the side that beat Harrogate in League Two several days prior.
The manager admitted that Bolton probably edged the contest overall but was left wondering what might have been had his side taken another of their chances in the first half.
“We have got quite a number of injuries and I did want to give people a game who needed a game,” he told the club channels.
“To do that, I had to change the shape and we only really got 10 or 15 minutes working on that shape on the training ground.
“The boys, to go and play the way they did against an opponent that was very close to being in the Championship this season… I thought Bolton were a very good team and the boys gave a good account of themselves.
“They went about what we asked them to do well. We had some good opportunities in the first half where we maybe could have taken one or two of those.
“They had good possession and were playing through us quite well, but we had the better moments. We get a goal up and then had a really good chance, which we don’t take.
“They started to get on top of us a little bit and you can see the quality of Bolton, I felt they probably deserved to beat us tonight.”
Barrow’s attention now turns to this weekend's league fixture against Swindon as the Bluebirds aim to build on their recent wins against Port Vale and Harrogate.
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