What a difference a fortnight makes.

Two weeks ago, an over-confident and under-prepared team slid to a shocking 7-2 defeat to a newly-promoted Bolton Ambassadors side, due to a mixture of woeful defending, sloppy finishing and all-round ineptitude. All previously loud talk of winning the league was silenced; Parade duly rained upon.

As a result, the team arrived at the footballing mecca of Tottington determined to put things right; Early doubts prompted by the length of the grass & unusual September heat were proved unfounded as the boys positively exploded out of the traps, as was befitting of the pristine new kit that Gaffer Milne had bestowed upon them!

A big kick from keeper Dave Hopkins was glanced on by Dan Barrett to his strike partner Rob Southern, who with time to spare, watched the ball over his shoulder and planted his shot firmly into the net with a great finish. 1-0 after 5 mins, and this was as good as it got for a beleaguered Tottington defence. 1 became 2 just a few minutes later as a poor clearance from their keeper fell to Barrett who calmly steered the ball back from 20 yards into a gaping net.

 Things were looking good – Both strikers looking sharp & hungry, the defence seemingly business-like and organised, whilst Horan & Milne were snapping at the heels of the opposition in midfield. Things should have got even better when Bolts were awarded a penalty, but Barrett managed to rather tamely only find the keeper with it. (The chuckles from absent regular penalty-taker Mark Brookes could almost be heard)

Not to be deterred, however, Bolts continued to stream forward and the third goal was arguably the best of the game. Wes Davies found himself with time on the left and chipped a delicious ball over to the back post, dropping it just over the head of the retreating defender to the gleeful feet of Barrett, who controlled the ball and finished sweetly with two touches. Sensing a rout now, Bolts turned on the style. Ben Horan, having possibly his best game for the side, showed steel & quality in equal measure as he drove the team on and also found time to whip in a beautiful corner which Barrett headed home to complete his hat-trick in under 30 mins. But the goals were still not over as relentless pressure forced a bad error from the opposition’s centre-half, leaving the now-purring Barrett the simple task of scoring his fourth with another left-foot finish. Five-Nil and what a way for Barrett to celebrate reaching the milestone of turning 30. (Rumours of ‘Dodgy Nigerian Birth Certificates’ currently being investigated by unconvinced Club Secretary Jon Twist)

But it wouldn’t be the B-team without the odd lapse. A rare Tottington attack had seemingly expired when the previously-impeccable Adam Norse decided to flatten their attacker with the ball rolling harmlessly to safety. ‘Penalty!’ cried Tottington… ‘Indeed,’ replied the Referee, much to the disgust of Norse, whose remonstrations with the ref were possibly more a result of frustration over his Miss-of-the-Season contender 10 minutes earlier! The penalty was duly converted and proved the last act of an eventful half. 5-1 to the Bolts.

The half-time chat centred upon ensuring the team did not get complacent & get dragged back into a fight; Needless to say, that almost did happen for a 15 minute spell. A couple more Bolts chances went begging and Tottington seemed to sense that they had nothing to lose. Bolts began to slip into some bad habits involving giving the ball away and over-complicating things but the spell was ended when a subdued Rick Kilburn managed to briefly free himself of his inexpicable funk and coolly round the keeper to make it 6-1.

At this point, striker Bob Southern decided he wasn’t going to let Barrett hog all of the goal glory and stepped things up a gear. After uncharacteristically missing a few earlier chances, he shook off any disappointment with 3 strikes in the last 20 minutes to match his partner’s haul. The two forwards continued to pick up where they left off last season with Barrett freeing Southern for two of the goals, both nice through-balls that made the most of (or were made to look good by?) Southern’s blistering pace, to which a battered Tottington defence had no answer. Both goals were dispatched with the kind of quality finish we have come to expect. But Southern’s fourth was virtually the last kick of the game and probably his best; Some nice work from Olly Pimblett & the superb Horan was ended with a instinctive rasping left-footed finish from the L’Oreal Kid. Top drawer stuff.

So 9-1 it ended, a display consisting of some great things. Obviously the forwards demonstrated some great understanding & blistering finishing, but the win was built on a defensive display of unshowy efficiency, with no trace left of the hesitancy and over-elaboration of the previous game. Pimblett & Norse looked back to their solid best in the middle, even if Pimblett was looking longingly up the field and complaining of being ‘bored.’ Full backs Ross Taylor & Jonny Lynch were excellent, pushing forward at every opportunity. In central midfield, Horan was arguably Man of the Match, proving that this team is genuinely a lot weaker without his muscular presence. Whisper it, but his midfield partner Milne also showed some quality touches & surprisingly biting tackling! Even Keeper Dave Hopkins kept his concentration despite being somewhat under-employed and made a great fingertip save onto the post in the first half. And all this was achieved without the silky skills of playmaker Mark Brookes, a fact which I am sure he may be reminded of once or twice…

There’s no doubt that there is a lot of quality in this side and it’s true that a title push should be the least that’s expected. But we have seen both the best & worst sides of the team within the opening two games; Whether it can fulfil its promise rests solely on which side pops up more frequently…