BWFC 24

Tranmere Rovers 0 – 1 BWFC

Bolton Score!

• Venue: Prenton Park
• Attendance: 5,381
• Referee: Nigel Miller

• Mark Davies [41]
• Aaron Cresswell [55]

Mark Davies first goal for The Wanderers was enough to book a place in the Third Round of The League Cup.

Finally, Bolton get a goal, albeit against League One strugglers Tranmere Rovers — but it gave The Wanderers a crucial win. To loose or draw would have been disastrous for Gary Megson who already lacks the support of Bolton fans, sports writers, TV pundits…

“For some reason Bolton seems to be viewed entirely differently from the 19 other clubs in the Premier League. We need to change that. I was watching television today we were described as Bolton, who haven’t won a game all season — it didn’t say the season was nine days old.

“It motivates me and it motivates the players. We have to keep everything within the four walls of the dressing room. There is not a great deal of assistance from anywhere else but we get on with it.

“Today the fans were chanting ‘Megson give us a wave’. I turn around and wave and get booed! To be perfectly honest that’s normal.

“The players in the circumstances have been fantastic because it is a lot harder for us than most.”

Bolton did create a number of chances either side of Mark’s goal and really should have increased their lead. The most notable was fairly late on when Johan Elmander should have sealed the victory but his header from within the 6 yard box was somehow deflected by Tranmere’s Luke Daniels.

Thankfully Bolton kept a clean sheet to ensure progress to the third round. Bolton will discover who they will face next in The League Cup this Saturday (August 29, 2009) after their next Premier League match when Liverpool visit The Reebok Stadium. Let’s all hope that Bolton begin to convert their chances into actual goals and get their first points of the season.

Full Match Reports

Bolton Wanderers official website
Tranmere Rovers official website

League Cup — Away to Tranmere Rovers

A trip to The Wirral for Bolton Wanderers who been drawn against Tranmere Rovers in the League Cup.

Tranmere Rovers booked their place in the second round of the competition by beating Grimsby Town 4–0.

The exact date for the tie is yet to be announced but it will take place the week beginning August 24th at Prenton Park.

There has been rivalry between the two clubs since the early 90s when Tranmere beat Bolton by a single goal at Wembley in the play–offs for a place in the Second Division. In 2000 Tranmere beat The Trotters 4–0 over two legs for a place in the final of the League Cup.

The last time they met was at The Reebok Stadium for a reply in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup (2004). Once again Tranmere were winners (2–1) after The Wanderers had forced the replay by drawing 1–1 at Prenton Park.

Although early in the cup competition this fixture promises to be quite battle as Bolton will be eager to beat their old adversaries and make progress towards a very distant piece of silverware.

League Cup : Home To Manchester City

Bolton Wanderers 0 – 1 Manchester

Ground: Reebok Stadium | Attendance: 15,510 | Referee: Howard Webb

• [86] Elano (penalty) – Man City

Another night of disappointment for Bolton Wanderers as they are cruelly knocked out of the League Cup.

As Joey O’Brien limped off less than ten minutes before half-time no-one would have predicted that his replacement would be the reason for Bolton’s defeat in an important match that could have given The Wanderers some form of success in a season that has been tainted with misery.

Part of the misery is the fact that Joey O’Brien has so far missed much of this season due to injury and what looked like a hamstring problem could mean that the useful Irish lad could be out for six weeks.

Slovakia international Lubomir Michalik had referee Howard Webb pointing to the Bolton penalty spot after a brief consolation with the linesman. Michalik was thought to have handled the ball in the area enabling Brazilian Blumer Elano to take the local rivals ahead after the closely matched teams failed to turn their chances into goals.

Either side could have taken the lead late in the first half. City’s Michael Johnson shot from an acute angle sailed past Jaaskelainen and Danny Guthrie fired from distance for Bolton but his spectacular 25 yard effort skimmed past the post as half-time approached.

Read more…

International Duty Injures Bolton Strikers

The French day out to The Faroe Island last week ended with Nicolas Anelka receiving a slight knock that meant he missed Wednesday’s Euro 2008 Qualifier against Lithuania. Anelka has been training again this week and should have made a full recovery for tomorrow’s clash against his former club Arsenal.

Christian Wilhelmsson was substituted at half-time during Sweden’s match again Northern Ireland midweek. Unfortunately for the Swede is looking less likely to join the squad that visits The Emerites Stadium as his ankle injury was more serious than Anelka’s thigh problem and he has had less time to recover.

Sweden managed a 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland.
Other Bolton players involved in Wednesday’s Euro Qualifiers were Joey O’Brien (Ireland) and Stelios Giannakopoulos (Greece). O’Brien’s Ireland drew 1-1 with Cyprus at Croke Park but Stelios remained on the subs’ bench for the whole match against Turkey but the Greeks managed a late winner.