First half Bolton blitz stuns lacklustre Owls
Bolton extended their fantastic run of form with a comprehensive victory in Yorkshire, a county in which they have taken maximum points on every single visit there this season.
Wanderers were in control of the encounter right from the first whistle, and they didn’t take long to draw first blood. The lightning quick Jermaine Beckford managed to avoid the Owls’ offside trap, before playing the ball across the face of goal to Neil Danns who managed to bundle the ball home at the back post ahead of Mattock just eight minutes into the contest. If Mattock didn’t cover himself in glory for the first goal, he definitely didn’t for the second goal, as he gifted the ball to a grateful Lee Chung-Yong, and the South Korean winger slotted the ball underneath an an en-rushing Chris Kirkland to double the visitors’ advantage. Liam Trotter completed the rout with a superlative half volley from 30 yards, after he was given the freedom of Hillsborough to control the ball on his chest and lash the ball over a helpless Kirkland.
On a normal day, Trotter’s strike would have clearly been the goal of the game, but Joe Mattock’s first half consolation goal for the hosts was probably just as good. Following the clearance of a Rhys McCabe corner, Mattock struck an exquisite first time volley from outside the D which flew into Bogdan’s top left corner. Despite this, Stuart Gray’s side rarely threatened the Hungarian’s goal, and Bolton fully deserved their three points, which leaves them five points clear of Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday
| Chris Kirkland – Should have done better with the second goal, but he pulled off a few good saves and stopped a one-on-one. | 6.5 |
| Kieran Lee –Defended steadily and showed composure on the ball, but his passing ability and engine was missed in midfield. | 6.5 |
| Oguchi Onyewu –Made a few sloppy errors and was caught playing too much of a high line at times. | 5.5 |
| Glenn Loovens –Played a high line which gave Beckford space to run in behind. | 6.0 |
| Joe Mattock – At fault for the first two goals but scored a stunner to give Wednesday a glimmer of hope. Looks very suspect defensively. | 5.0 |
| Michail Antonio –Lacked any sort of confidence and his crossing was absolutely abysmal all day long. Seemed tired very early on. | 3.5 |
| Rhys McCabe –Played some very nice passes in the first half but he didn’t influence proceedings in the second period. Good on the ball, poor without it. | 6.0 |
| Giles Coke –Anonymous for the majority of the afternoon and he gave the ball away a lot. | 4.0 |
| Jeremy Helan – Didn’t offer anything on the wing but improved when he was moved into defence. | 6.5 |
| Caolan Lavery –Drifted out wide to get on the ball, but his end product and hold up play was lacking. | 6.0 |
| Adthe Nuhiu –Marked out of the game by Bolton’s two centre backs, who were excellent all afternoon. | 5.5 |
Substitutions
| Paul Corry – Looked fairly calm on the ball and played some decent passes. Didn’t make a great impact. | 6.0 |
| Jack Stobbs –You could tell that the 17 year old debutant was nervous, so he kept his passing simple. One for the future. | 6.0 |
| Benik Afobe –Had no time to make an impact. | 6.0 |
Bolton Wanderers
| Adam Bogdan – Had virtually nothing to do all game. Couldn’t have stopped Mattock’s stunner. | 6.5 |
| Oscar Threlkeld –Enjoyed a solid debut. Assured and mature in possession and defended well. | 8.0 |
| Matt Mills –Outstanding performance from Mills, who won every single header, made blocks and tackles. Hardly put a foot wrong. | 9.0 |
| David Wheater –Solid and marshalled the defence well. | 8.0 |
| Tim Ream – Displayed excellent distribution and was very strong defensively. | 8.5 |
| Jay Spearing –Recycled possession and swept up well. | 7.5 |
| Liam Trotter –Anchored the midfield very well, used the ball effectively and scored a terrific goal. Strong performance from the Millwall loanee. | 8.5 |
| Lee Chung-Yong –Scored the second goal and linked up well with Danns and Hall. | 8.0 |
| Neil Danns – Found pockets of space in hole and picked out some good passes. Linked up well with the other attacking-minded players and got himself on the score sheet. | 8.5 |
| [Rob Hall –Used the ball well and worked hard out of possession to track back. | 7.5 |
| Jermaine Beckford –Stretched the Owls’ rear-guard with his pace, set up Danns’ goal but was caught offside too much. | 6.5 |
Substitutions
| Andrew Kellet – Offered an injection of pace with his introduction, looked bright and could have had an assist. | 7.0 |
| Lukas Jutkiewicz – Held the ball up well. | 6.0 |
| Thomas Youngs –Came on in stoppage time. | 6.0 |
Man of the Match
| Matt Mills – An absolute rock at the back, at the heart of a rearguard that barely gave Wednesday a sniff all game. Managed to mark Nuhiu out of the game. | 9.0 |
