BWFC 24

Postmatch Report – Home to Fulham

Bolton Wanderers 2 – 1 Fulham

Ground: Reebok Stadium | Attendance: 23,104 | Referee: Phil Dowd

• [22] Helguson – Fulham
• [45] Helguson (og) – Bolton
• [68] Nolan – Bolton

After midweek deep disappointment after being knocked out of The UEFA Cup Bolton Wanderers needed to restore confidence and morale and Sammy Lee’s post match comment, “this isn’t the end of the journey, this is the start,” showed signs of optimism that were eventually displayed on to the pitch this afternoon.

Strangely Fulham had to make a change before the game had even started having lost Antti Niemi to an injury picked up during his warm-up – he was replaced Warner.

It looked to be going wrong for The Wanderers as Fulham striker Helguson managed a powerful volleyed shot that hit the crossbar in the 2nd minute after a great chipped pass from Radzinski. The visitors continued to unsettle The Trotters and eventually, perhaps inevitably, went ahead halfway through the first half with Heidar Helguson heading Simon Elliot’s free-kick.

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FA Cup Fixture Confirmed

Bolton Wanderers will travel down to Upton Park for their FA Cup 5th Round replay which will take place on Wednesday, March 15th. This replay follows the scoreless draw at the Reebok and whoever wins will have to play away to  either Aston Villa or Manchester City who also face a replay.

If you cannot manage a mid-week trip to London then you will be pleased to know that the BBC will be broadcasting the match live.

Postmatch Report – UEFA Cup – Away to Marseilles

Olympique Marseille 1 – 0 Bolton Wanderers

Ground: Stade Velodrome | Attendance: 38,351 | Referee: Missimo Busacca

• [25] Giannakopoulos – Bolton
• [45] Ribery – Marseilles
• [68] Ben Haim (og) – Marseilles

Writing this report is harder than writing out a sympathy card, such is the feeling of loss and deprivation. It has taken a few day to come to terms with the result. Bolton could have beaten Marseille at home and away, there is no doubt about that. Unfortunately blame must be shared between the officials refereeing the 180 minutes of football and a couple of schoolboy errors (but mainly the referees!).

In the first leg Bolton should have had at least one penalty and perhaps a couple of yellows should been handed out for time-wasting and play-acting which made the game stop-start constantly after the first 20 minutes. The game was not allowed to flow restricting The Wanderers. Although the referee at that game was more than happy to give free-kicks outside the penalty area he seemed to have a clear phobia of whistles when obvious fouls and handballs occurred within the Marseille box.

With a scoreless draw at The Reebok Bolton had the advantage when travelling to the Stade Velodrome because of the ‘away goals rule’.

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Prematch – UEFA Cup – Away to Marseilles

Sammy Lee flew out of Manchester Airport to the south of France yesterday with the squad. Sam Allardyce is hoping to recover from a chest infection sufficiently to travel today [Thursday].

Both Sammy Lee and Gary Speed have made comment about tonight’s game and both agree that the home crowd will be loud with passion for the game. Around 3,000 Wanderers fans will add to what should be a crowd that doubles that which attended the first leg at The Reebok – expect 40,000 or more.

Assistant manager, Sammy Lee said:

“They are a very passionate crowd in Marseilles – but that is something to enjoy rather than be fearful of. They are a strong side, but I would prefer going there with a 0-0 rather than a 1-1. Marseilles will be fully aware of
our potential as well.”

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