A huge night for Bolton Wanderers – we now have a four point buffer in the race for automatic promotion after a 1-0 win away to Salford City.
Even without the obvious impact that result had on our promotion chances – it was still a statement result. Salford hadn’t lost a home league game since last February, yet we made the short trip down the road and took all three points.
At times it was hard, but anyone with a degree of realism will have known that. Ian Evatt sprung no surprises with his team selection – George Thomason came in to replace the departed Marcus Maddison, with maybe the exception of the wide areas, or maybe when Antoni Sarcevic returns for the attacking midfield spot, the team picks itself at the moment.
Lloyd Isgrove’s first half winner proved to be enough, when the best left foot around at the moment somehow managed to find the bottom far corner. From there, we had a lead to defend and we’re very good at that, which we had to prove in the second half as Salford largely had the better of it in a game that threatened to get tetchy at times. There was some bizarre refereeing at times too, including the MJ Williams booking which initially seemed to be given as our free kick.
Our possession stats weren’t as good as usual, Salford’s second half pressure ensured that, but ultimately, we held on. And with Tranmere slipping up yet again, we have a bit of daylight.