ROCHDALE ST. CLEMENTS - 3 V OLD BOLTONIANS 'B' - 2
Slight bump in the road for the B team bombers…
I"ll keep this brief as nobody likes to dwell on a defeat that was snatched from the jaws of victory…Rochdale’s pitch has never been a happy hunting ground & so it proved once again.
A bright start was capped by a good Bolts move early in the 1st half. Brookes & Barrett combined to release galloping youngster Rob Southern who confirmed his potential with an excellent finish from what was really only a half-chance. And he has a superb barnet. What more can you ask?
Bolts could & should have then gone 2-0 up when the usual persistent running from Ben Horan paid off as he was presented with what can only be described as an open goal. Unfortunately, perhaps surprised by the sheer simplicity of the task in front of him, ‘Hogan’ managed to lift the ball over the bar! Little did we know how costly that was to prove, but in Ben’s defence, he kept his head up & played well for the remainder of the game, as always.
For the time being though, all was well. The 2nd half began & the Bolts defence of Turner, Thomasson, Norse & Davies were repelling all forays comfortably. The game then suddenly burst into life with 2 goals of real quality, as good as any you are likely to see at this level. The first seemed likely to settle the game in the Bolts’ favour when in-form Dan Barrett rolled back the years/pounds with a glorious chest-then-shoulder-height volley combo that pinged into the top corner from the edge of the box! A Euro ’96-style ‘Dentist Chair’ celebration ensued but the glee was to prove premature!
What should have been the cherry on top of cake merely proved to sting Rochdale into life. Within 2 minutes of the restart, the Rochdale winger cut in and unleashed a cracking, unstoppable shot from 30 yards that seared into the far corner to cut the deficit to 2-1. A seriously good goal. Suddenly, that dreaded old feeling of a game slipping away began to filter in - Sure enough, some dodgy Bolts defending & goalkeeping lead to their equaliser & it seemed there was only going to be one winner as the Bolts began to flail.
And so it came…Rochdale pressure told again as they steered in the winner just 2 minutes from full-time. A sickening feeling for sure, but in truth we probably only deserved a point.
A game that will only stick in the memory for 2 reasons – Two belting strikes & one incredible miss!
The good news is that the opportunity for revenge presents itself next week up at Turton. Nice pitch, full team, no excuses!