Bolton 2 Shrewsbury 1 - Report

Steve Cotterill’s Town paid the price for conceding twice inside five minutes by the mid-point of the first half in a contest the visitors had started brightly.

Both goals, from ex-Town man Antoni Sarcevic and Dapo Afolayan, were fine finishes from distance but Shrewsbury should not have allowed either strikes to trouble Marko Marosi’s goal.

Town’s Luke Leahy reduced the arrears one minute from time but the visitors missed a glaring opportunity to halve the deficit 10 minutes after the break, through Ryan Bowman’s poor penalty.

The striker fluffed his lines with Salop’s first spot-kick of the season, which was tame and straight down the middle for Joel Dixon to bat away.

Bolton, who are seventh after the win, appeared comfortable with their two-goal buffer for the remainder of the encounter until Leahy made it two goals in a week with a sublime free-kick following confusing officiating.

Cotterill’s men huffed and puffed in search of a seemingly unlikely dramatic leveller but could not force another chance.

The visitors forced 13 efforts at goal at the University of Bolton Stadium, but just two were on target - the missed penalty and the late free-kick. It is a stat that needs addressing are Town to secure the run of results they require.

The 2-1 reverse extends their winless league record against the Whites to eight games and makes it back-to-back defeats just as it appeared they had turned a corner in a bid to kickstart their season.

Town slip to 23rd in League One as two of the other three sides in the drop zone won. Crewe and Charlton leap-frog Cotterill’s men, while Doncaster prop up the table.

Cotterill opted against any changes for just Shrewsbury’s third ever visit to Bolton’s current home.

His Town ranks were unchanged from Tuesday’s home reverse to Wycombe, meaning there was no place in the matchday squad for former Bolton local lad Josh Vela.

The midfielder had been keen to feature against the club he spent 17 years with, but the knee injury sustained during last weekend’s win over AFC Wimbledon ruled him out.

Cotterill did say on Thursday that Vela’s best hope was a place on the bench back in Lancashire.

Like on Tuesday against the Chairboys, Leahy shuffled into central midfield and George Nurse started at left wing-back.

Daniel Udoh - who scored for Town last time they were here in December 2019’s 1-1 draw - continued up front with Bowman.

Bolton started the day in seventh, following Town fixtures against Wimbledon and Wycombe, both of whom were also pursuing the upper echelons of the division.

They arrived off the back of a strong 4-1 win at Charlton on Tuesday in responding to Sunderland and Rotherham defeats.

Much like Town, boss Ian Evatt was keen to see his side start matches better, the Whites having shipped the first goal in eight of 10 league games this term ahead of kick-off.

Evatt’s men topped the away form table, but had work to do in front of their own fans, with just a single win from four ahead of Town’s visit. Evatt brought defender George Johnston in for Alex Baptiste, while the likes of Amadou Bakayoko and Nathan Delfouneso on their best suggested a depth of firepower.

There was an air of expectation in the air among the home fans, and the roar was deafening following the minute’s applause to remember the great Roger Hunt MBE.

Town had not travelled in great numbers, but the pocket of supporters in the bottom couple of the arena made themselves heard as their side made an encouraging start in Lancashire.

Shaun Whalley was bright again in the pocket of space behind the front two. Town’s No.7 popped up in various positions and his fleet-footed play caused the home defence problems.

Udoh and Bowman combined well early on, with the former’s aerial presence proving challenging to the Whites’ backline.

Bowman challenged at the near post after Whalley, Udoh and Nurse linked up well for the latter to cross before, from the subsequent Leahy corner, Aaron Pierre nodded wide at the far post. It was a decent early chance.

Moments later Bowman nodded down for Udoh and both were offered shots from distance, both of which were well blocked.

Whalley flicked a decent chance wide on 17 minutes after Bowman had got the better of towering stopper Ricardo Santos.

It was judged Whalley’s flick took a deflection, but Salop’s Elliott Bennett lost possession on the right flank and, within seconds, the visitors were punished.

Town just couldn’t recover, despite a couple of efforts at doing so, and home skipper Sarcevic was allowed room to approach the edge of the box, open up his body, and curl a wonderful finish into Marko Marosi’s far top corner.

Sarcevic played just 15 games for Shrewsbury before leaving shortly into Paul Hurst’s reign in 2016 having arrived under Micky Mellon that summer. His impact on the club was minimal - but the former Fleetwood star has been reborn at Plymouth and Botlon.

And, shipping yet another opener, Cotterill’s visitors slumped and, within five minutes, found themselves further behind to another cracking strike.

It was a fine finish from winger Afolayan - but he should never have been afforded the chance to buy a ticket from outside the box.

Bolton worked it forward and, despite the presence of flailing pink and black Town bodies around his feet, the in-form former Solihull Moors man was able to pick himself up and arrow a low strike into Marosi’s bottom corner.

The keeper had had nothing to do before picking the ball out of his net twice. Hopes of a first clean sheet had long since gone.

Bolton’s style of playing out from the back did not look entirely convincing at all. On a handful of occasions between Town’s wild five minutes and the half-time whistle did the Whites backline offer a chance in their own box for Shrewsbury. But, in keeping with their struggles this season, the visitors were unable to take one.

Nurse lifted an ambitious effort from the left touchline just over before questionable decisions to charge out of goal from Bolton’s Joel Dixon twice invited Town forward, but they couldn’t profit through either Whalley, Udoh or Bowman.

Udoh fired into the side netting and over the crossbar from 20 yards after slack Whites play. The hosts’ right-back Gethin Jones kept Marosi on his toes with a fierce strike from distance. But despite hedging their bets at the back, the home crowd felt comfortable at the interval.

Bolton’s high risk, high reward style had paid off in the opening 45 minutes and the home side almost added to their lead just after the break as Kieran Lee shot low at Marosi from inside the box.

Town struggled to knit passes and even a throw-in together as they made a foray down their right flank - but, almost out of nowhere - they were handed a chance to get back into the contest.

Whalley’s twinkle-toes drew a poorly-timed challenge from Sarcevic after the Town man had driven into the box from the right and referee Marc Edwards pointed to the spot.

Striker Bowman immediately took responsibility and picked up the ball. He had netted from the spot in the pre-season win at AFC Telford.

But the former Exeter man, with Town’s pocket of fans waiting anxiously in the corner, fluffed his lines with a tame spot-kick that drew jeers and taunts from the home faithful.

Bowman powered into a run-up before appearing to scoop a tame strike down the middle of Dixon’s goal. The keeper was not fooled and did not dive out of the way, instead he stood up and batted away the floated effort. Santos made a big block from the rebound to huge home cheers.

It was a first effort on target following nine off target from the first period. But the strike totally lacked conviction.

It appeared Shrewsbury’s chance had come and gone but Cotterill’s men continued to be afforded the ball and space in the Bolton third. Pierre headed over but he was offside. Town did not lack in energy but struggled to work clear-cut openings.

Bolton appeared to have settled for two, save for a couple of ventures forward into Shrewsbury’s territory, but the atmosphere intensified when Bakayoko made his long-awaited return from injury from the bench.

With Town’s pack of travelling fans continuing to try to make themselves heard, Cotterill rolled the dice with 15 minutes left, introducing Tom Bloxham and Sam Cosgrove.

There was almost a third for Wanderers in embarrassing circumstances as a Pierre backward header nearly caught the on-rushing Marosi off guard.

Bolton appeared to be coasting to three points before extremely confusing and poor officiating handed Town the chance at a strike back.

Mr Edwards’ assistant appeared to flag for offside when substitute Cosgrove was played on Cosgrove. The referee blew the whistle before changing his mind, as the ball had deflected off a Bolton man, and handed Town the free-kick.

Leahy stepped up and curled a fine set-piece into Dixon’s top right corner to set up a possible grandstand finish.

But the visitors could make nothing of the five minutes of added time. A possible chance may have fell to Nathanael Ogbeta at the back post but his touch got away from him.

Town fans departed swiftly to the concourse to reflect on a difficult period and a gloomy start to the campaign, with their side down in 23rd and requiring inspiration.

Teams

Bolton Wanderers (4-2-3-1):

Dixon; Jones (Isgrove, 45), Johnston, Santos, John; Lee (Sheehan, 78), Williams; Kachunga, Sarcevic ©, Afolayan; Doyle (Bakayoko, 71).

Subs not used: Baptiste, Thomason, Gordon, Delfouneso.

Shrewsbury Town (3-5-2):

Marosi; Pennington, Ebanks-Landell ©, Pierre; Bennett, Davis, Leahy, Nurse, Whalley (Ogbeta, 80); Bowman (Bloxham, 74), Udoh (Cosgrove, 74).

Subs not used: Burgoyne, Leshabela, Pyke, Caton.

Attendance: 13,121 (448 Shrewsbury fans)

Referee: Marc Edwards