On Wednesday, as I drove back to Manchester while the Wigan game was being played, I tried to imagine what was going on at T’Reebok. This was due to the lack of information coming from the ground on 5 Live, as per my previous entry.
Imagine then, sitting at work, looking at the BBC Sport website and watching the score steadfastly refuse to move from 0-0. As goals went in here and there, much like Wednesday, I couldn’t help but think that, due to the opposition, there was something wrong with the BBC, or that Garth Crooks had bribed the man who updates it to keep the score at deadlock.
The truth, in fact, was worse than that.
I know that I poked a little bit of fun at York leading up to the game, but the stark truth is that Bolton, with whatever team we had put out, should have put four or five past them. York City are fourteenth in the Conference, a long way from their heydays of two old second division seasons back in the seventies.
As Yoda would say, comment on the game I cannot, having seen less of it that any Bolton game in the past twenty years. Not that I have any idea if Yoda is a Bolton fan. From what I understand, my player to watch had a mare and was replaced by the captain at halftime. The defence was OK, the midfield still missing its talisman, and it took the introduction of the first choice pair to bring some sense to the score, and that was only after York could, and should, have scored first.
I remember the game in 2000/01, our last in Division One, when Yeovil also brought about 5,000 fans and came so close to beating us before Fat Boy and John O’Kane spared our blushes. I wasn’t at Burnden when Gretna ran us close, but it seems that we have a history of letting non league clubs come at us and almost cause an upset.
Games need to be significantly raised if we are to progress in the competition, although, with the Pie Eaters next, you would assume the fifth round is easily within reach. That the poll gave man of the match to Adam Bogdan should tell you all you need to know.
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