City Trot Past Bolton

MCFC Reserves 2 - 1 BWFC Reserves

A disjointed City team were able to edge a win against Bolton Wanderers thanks to a brace by makeshift striker Ashley Grimes and keep City still in title contention despite Liverpool setting the pace in the league.
Due to City's involvement in the youth cup and the management's inability to select at least one of our misfiring first team forwards, City lined up without one recognised striker in the starting eleven; Grimes and Adam Clayton were chosen as the front pairing, and so City looked good up to a point, but lacked anything in and around the box.
I was very impressed with Michael Daly this evening as he put himself everywhere on the pitch and constantly broke the Bolton attacks up; but unfortunately he had taken a bad knock earlier in the game and had to be taken off just before seventy minutes.
City's first goal came when Clayton drove forward and layed the ball into the path of Daly who then slipped the ball into the feet of Grimes who seemed to take an age to finish in the bottom corner.
City could not keep hold of the lead however as Bolton's Johann Smith who has just returned from a loan spell at Darlington had too much pace even for the jet heeled Curtis Obeng and he rather foolishly brought him down on the edge of the area and the referee rightly pointed directly to the spot for a penalty. City's nemesis, Zoltan Harsanyi, for Bolton in the Senior cup game earlier in the season was the man to convert the penalty.
City in one way were fortunate to still have eleven men on the pitch for the second half as the referee had decided that Shaleum Logan had fouled Harsanyi near the edge of the area when bearing down on goal; Logan was the last man and so should have been given a red, but had he done so he would have ruined a game when Logan had clearly won the ball.
City piled the pressure on in the second half and had Karl Moore engaged his brain and brought some boots that know how to cross, City would have had a hatful of easy chances to go in front.
City did take the lead however with just over ten minutes remaining when a strong run by Logan on the left led to him sending an early ball across which lively substitute James Poole knocked back into the path of Grimes who drove forward and shot from twenty five yards into the bottom corner of the net.
Poole's movement up front allowed himself a few chances near the end but Adam Bogdan in the Bolton goal spread himself well on a couple of occasions to deny him and amazingly was able to smother one right on the line.
City now take a winter break until Thursday 15th January in the Premier reserve league where they are home to Sunderland where hopefully they can win their third game in a row.


City: Hart(GK), Obeng, Logan, Onuoha, Williamson(Capt.), M Daly(Poole 69), Vidal, GrimesGrimes, Clayton, Marshall, Moore.

Subs: Hartley(GK), McDonald, Mouritsen, Cunningham.


Bolton: Bogdan(GK), Sinclair, Jamieson, Dzemaili(Kazimierczak 71), Gbemie, Charlsworth, Braaten, Sissons(Thompson 79), Harsanyi(Obadeyi 69), Basham, Smith.

Subs: Cassidy, Woolfe.


Att: 177.