The Old Boltonians had a lot to prove in this mid table clash with Old Mancunians following a dismal run of results that had seen their title aspirations fade. Once again, injuries had prevented manager Simon Shields from having a full compliment of players to select from, so a revised formation of 4-5-1 was used.

The game kicked off at a slow pace with each of the teams lying deep and sounding out the opposition. Old Boltonians seemed to carry on where they left off in the previous match and couldn't get the ball down and string a number of passes together. The game was scrappy and the extra man in midfield was, as of yet, not paying dividends for the Old Boltonians. In all honesty, the first half was a bit of a non-event. Very few chances were created for either team and the only incident of any note was a 35-yard shot from Old Mancunians that was well saved by Anthony Duffy. Half-time came with the score deadlocked at 0-0. Not one for the neutral.

The Old Boltonians started the second half as they should have been playing in the first; the tempo was higher, the passing more fluent and ball retention much improved. The Old Boltonians were playing like a team with renewed confidence and systematically began to chip away at the straining Old Mancunians defence. The breakthrough came about ten minutes into to the first half from a Rick McCllelan corner. A good delivery into the box was headed home by David 'Captain Marvel" Owen.

Old Mancunians attempted to get themselves back into the game by primarily using the pace of their one trick pony of a left winger, but Jon Burrows was more than up to the task and didn’t give the guy a sniff all game. The defence as a unit looked solid (apart from some kamikaze solo runs from Craig Jolley - it was to keep the fans interested) and the midfield had a strangle hold on the game. The second goal came courtesy of a debatable penalty. The referee adjudged that the ball was handled in the area by their defender, it wasn’t, but we’ll take all we can get at the moment! David Owen grabbed the ball was sizing up the net to claim his second goal of the game. However, before he could even place the ball on the spot, another figure had ghosted forward to lay claim to the spot kick. Anthony Duffy took the ball from the skipper (there were no arguments). Despite the gamesmanship from the opposing defenders he kept his cool to strike the ball low into the net in the ‘corner’ (keeper should have had it though). 2-0.

The remainder of the game was dominated by Old Boltonians; some good chances were spurned but Old Mancunians never looked likely to score. Final score – 2-0. Good result. And all those players in the first team squad that have scored fewer times than our goalkeeper this season should hang their heads in shame.