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Bolton Deservedly Win on Penalties

BWFC Reserves 2 - 2 MCFC Reserves
Bolton win 4-3 on Penalties

City played the first Manchester Senior Cup game of the season against Bolton at the County Ground at Leyland last night and were very fortunate to have the chance to gain a victory in the penalty shootout; but Bolton only just held their nerve slightly better than City as both teams missed three attempts. City had taken an early lead through James Poole but then they fell behind to goals from Tamir Cohen and Mustapha Riga before an injury time header from Paul Marshall.

Bolton as usual lined up with a strong and experienced team and they started brightly as Riga clipped the outside of the post after seventy seconds. It was City however that took the lead whilst playing the first half up the slope when Poole pushed forward and laid a good ball off to the left for Karl Moore to push the ball past the defender and on to the by-line and cut the ball back for Poole to convert the ball across the goal and into the net.

From that moment forward it was all Bolton as they pushed for an equalizer and they created chance after chance; non more so than for Ricardo Vaz Te who clearly had some fifty pence boots as his shots went here there and everywhere. So it was a bit of a shock to see City go into the break still a goal to the good.

City started the second half quite brightly and Adam Clayton and Poole could have added to City's first goal but Clayton's effort was just wide and Adam Bogdan in the Bolton goal pulled of a good save.

As the game wore on City might have believed it was going to be their night as again Bolton pushed forward and were extremely wasteful with their chances and again non more so than Vaz Te.

The breakthrough did come when again City struggled to clear the ball and Cohen sent a fine strike past Richard Martin in the goal . Two minutes later and Bolton made it count when City failed to clear a corner and Riga ran in to send a fine twernty yard strike into the goal.

Bolton Continued to press forward but it was City that gained the goal when un-explicatively Bolton's David Gbemie sent a back pass past Bogdan and just wide of the goal and behind for a corner. Moore put the ball into the danger area and Bogdan came out to claim the ball but missed it as Marshall drove in and firmly headed the ball into the net; cue penalties.

City were first to take them and Poole converted his and so did Bolton's captain Blerim Dzemaili. City then missed their next three whilst Bolton missed their next two but Riga scored the fourth putting pressure on City's Ryan McGivern who fired well past Bogdan, but leaving Temitope Obadeyi to win it for Bolton, but he was denied and Marshall stepped up to convert his penalty and then Nicky Hunt Followed to convert his for Bolton. The nerves got to Moore however as Bogdan saved his effort. The story of the night however then goes to Vaz Te who had missed so many glorious opportunities to score in the ninety minutes stepped up to convert the winning penalty for his team.

On a strange note the referee Danny Roberts had a very poor game by focusing far too much on this respect the referee dicta and failed to penalise City and Bolton players for many over hand challenges.


Bolton: Bogdan(GK), Hunt, Gardner, Dzemaili(Capt.), Gbemie, Basham, Vaz Te, Cohen, Obadeyi, Riga, Woolfe.

Subs: Sinclair(GK), Harsanyi, Sissons, Burns, Sheridan.


City: Martin(GK), Vidal, Williamson(Capt.), McGivern, McDonald, Clayton, Weiss(D Ball 76), Marshall, Daly, Poole, Moore.

Subs: Hartley(GK), Mee, Tsiaklis, Morris.


Att: Approx 100.