Bolton won their first game at home this season with a single goal victory over Bradford City.
The story after Saturday’s match ended up being Billy Crellin, and again Crellin was the story tonight. It was Nathan Delfouneso who scored the only goal of the game, capitalising after Antoni Sarcevic’s attempted lob was the cue for some comedy Bradford defending.
But as the game went on, Bradford had opportunities, and two or three claims for a penalty, and one was finally given. Billy Clarke stepped up, and even if it wasn’t the best strike, Crellin went a long way to winning his manager and the fans over by clawing it away.
That’s not to sat Crellin’s performance was flawless. As time ran out, Bradford put balls in the box, and Crellin didn’t look too authoritative in dealing with them. But unlike on Saturday, he ultimately kept the ball out of the net and his clean sheet. Evatt was more than happy to praise him in the post-match interview, and as much as I still think that sort of criticism should be kept private, hopefully it has had the desired effect.
The early stages were good for Bolton, even without the goal. It felt the most in control of a game we’ve seen for while, or at least I’ve seen in a while. Special praise too for Ronan Darcy, whose messing around at the end, getting a booking for delaying a free kick, was the type of stuff that’d send you mad if you were a Bradford fan but I found it funny to watch.
Wanderers are back on the road this weekend, travelling to Leyton Orient.