These match reports are beginning to follow an unpleasant theme; Woeful tales of misfortune, careless errors & ‘taking the positives’ etc….And while all of the above were probably relevant to some degree again on Saturday, it is now surely time for this team to ‘Put Up or Shut Up.’

On a foul day, on a poor pitch, against average opposition, Bolts managed to be intermittently foul, poor & average themselves. It has to be said that this game was there to be won. Manager Milne had left the team in the hands of young(ish) pretender Dan Barrett and with a strong & youthful-looking starting XI, things had looked promising. But after this, Joe Kinnear might be getting a call.

Apparently a pitch in the middle of Ainsworth is just too hard for some lifelong Boltonians to find; Kick-off was delayed as Bolts had only 10 men ready on the pitch, and of the squad of 14 it would be fair to describe at least 4 as completely hungover. The stale stench of undigested Magners wafted around the pitch like a thick, unwelcome fog.

With a start like that, Bolts got what they deserved. Playing downhill but taking virtually no advantage of it, Bolts began wobbily & Ainsworth sensed blood and began to dominate. As is so often the case, we were undone by one long punt & a decent finish. 1-0 down.

Some horrendous defending soon followed, while the midfield were giving away the ball too cheaply. Veterans Hughes & Beardsworth were too often left to feed off scraps up front. Gradually though, Bolts managed to steady the ship & begin to apply some pressure, realised before half-time when winger Rick Kilburn grabbed his first B Team goal with a great tricky run & sharp finish. Bolts should have even nudged ahead when a lovely reverse ball from Mark Brookes slipped Barrett in, but his shot cannoned off the underside of the crossbar & away. Perhaps a pointer towards our fate….

The second half was always going to be a battle, playing up the slope (mountain) & with tiring men. And so it proved, when a zippy Ainsworth move resulted in their second goal. Bolts finally began to dig in & show some proper commitment, but the game was quickly fizzling out. Ainsworth were then awarded a fairly soft penalty & duly converted to pretty much end the game as a contest. To be fair, even then Bolts battled on – as much due to a real sense of embarrassment that we had blown this game as anything else – and other good chances came & went. With a minute to go, Sam Pepper’s good run into the box was ended abruptly & Brookes converted the resulting penalty with ease. 2-3… But it was too little, too late.

Plus points? Difficult to find many – Solid work from Tankard & Wes Davies, a welcome return the bench for stalwart Ian Thomasson, some lively work from Tricky Ricky Kilburn….Other than that, too many poor performances & too many players looking like they would rather be at home in bed. Even at this level, you get punished if you are ill-prepared, a lesson that needs to be heeded quickly if this team is to progress at all this season.

Or this is what you get.

Played:  4

Won:     0

Drawn:  1

Lost:      3

Goals For: 8

Goals Against: 22

Points  :  1