Match Reports Walsall v BWFC Tuesday 19th Sept 2006

                        Carling Cup Second Round

The team in White... Bolton looked good. Nobby (I wonder where he gets his name from) scored the first goal then some bloke in a Red shirt scored shortly afterwards. The the guy with the hair scored for Bolton closely followed by another last minute goal from that nice new guy. We won.

Match report by - Christina    

And now for something completely different..........

Big Sam finally saw his record signing Nicolas Anelka live up to his goalscoring reputation last night. The £8million buy left it until injury-time before he found the back of the net to give Wanderers a flattering 3-1 Carling Cup success at Walsall, who had given them a serious run for their money.

As early as the third minute, Ian Walker was called into action to turn away Butler's shot. The goalkeeper had to be aware a few minutes later as a deflected shot had to be dealt with. On 19 minutes, Vaz Te wasted a great opportunity that Anelka had created for him. In fact, in the past two games, Nicolas Anelka has done a lot to endear him to the Bolton fans. For a so-called lazy player, his work ethic is impressive.

A minute later, Walsall hit the post. Bolton took the ball up the field and if Vaz Te had slipped the ball through to Anelka rather than trying to shoot himself, Bolton would have taken the lead.
At half time, the game was scoreless though Bolton had done much of the pressing and had kept most of the possession.

The second half saw The Saddlers raise their game and they deserve a lot of credit for matching us for nearly 70 minutes.

Wanderers had to work hard to get their noses in front through Kevin Nolan in the 68th minute. but were pegged back when Martin Butler equalised for the Saddlers six minutes later. Campo's goal broke Walsall's spirit and record signing Anelka put the result beyond doubt in injury-time with his first goal following his £8 million transfer from Fenerbahce.

The game ended on a sour note, however, when El-Hadji Diouf was accused of "diving" by Richard Money, manager of the League Two side. He claimed the Senegal striker deliberately tumbled when he was challenged by Saddlers' full-back, Kris Taylor in the run up to the crucial second goal.

"I don't mind if I get in trouble for saying it, but it was a dive, not a foul," Money said. "Everyone in the stadium could see that." It was a tenuous and harsh complaint, since the free-kick awarded for the Taylor challenge was the first of three set-pieces which led to the opening goal. .On 53 minutes Tal was unfortunate to see his header come back off the bar. Walsall were beginning to press and the game became a little more open. On 68 minutes, the deadlock was broken when Nolan, on for Andranik, put the ball in the back of the net from an Anelka cross.

Money said his players had done the club proud. "The performance was absolutely top drawer," he said. "We were very disciplined, very organised and very good on the ball. "I am so proud."

Relieved to be in the Third Round draw, Allardyce said: "They made it tremendously difficult for us, especially in the second half, but our quality and our fitness counted in the end."

Sam now has a bigger fight on his hands - and we're behind him all the way.

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