Bolton 0 — 2 Blackburn Rovers
Sam Ricketts Seals 3 Points for Rovers
- Sunday, November 22, 2009
- Venue: The Reebok Stadium
- Attendance: 21,777
- Referee: Mike Dean
- David Dunn [32]
- Matthew Taylor [42]
- David Dunn [45]
- Fabrice Muamba [45]
- Sam Ricketts (og) [73]
- Ivan Klasnic [80]
A distinctly mediocre first half gave the visitors the lead which in turn led to a lively second half in which more goals seemed inevitable.
With the beginnings of an unenviable run of defeats Bolton manager, Gary Megson, decided that a change of tactics would be enough to take on local rivals Blackburn Rovers with a 4-4-2 formation that saw Johan Elmander and Kevin Daives up front.
Sadly former Bolton player and manager, Sam Allardyce, was absent due to health concerns. Sam followed his doctor’s orders to take a break from the stresses of being BRFC’s boss and left Neil McDonald at the helm.
Bolton rarely put Blackburn under pressure during open play and Rovers’ goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, was only employed to gather lacklustre shots and wayward passes. Only Matt Taylor produced a couple of fine saves from Robinson. Matt also came close to scoring early on but could not find space to take a shot as Gavin McCann’s long pass fell awkwardly. Despite the defeat both Taylor and McCann were instrumental in giving the Reebok faithful hope.
