A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"But that defences.......be maintained"

Football League Championship

Bolton Wanderers (1)1
Alonso 20

Brighton and Hove Albion (0)0

Attendance: 17,599

Now which way do I go?

I have always believed one of football's unwritten laws to be "the onus is on the home team to attack".  I was wrong! I travelled all the way to Horwich Parkway in darkest, deepest Lancashire to witness a game you could see at the Amex almost any week. Bolton, the home team, defended as if their lives depended on it and Brighton, the away team, attacked almost incessantly as if playing at home.

Bolton had a not unfamiliar Championship game plan. Defend in depth, strike on the break and hope the soccer Gods smile on you. The Wanderers scored with their only shot on target and held on with the same determination shown by Ralph Richardson to the last half of the last cigar in Moscow in Dr. Zhivago.

How many times do the match stats tell us "opponents - shots on target 1; goals 1"? No doubt after the game Dougie Freedman was telling his chairman, over the prawn sandwiches and chilled white wine, "never mind the quality look at the League table". It may not be very pretty but Bolton have a plan and are making a determined late run for the play offs.

Welcome to the Reebok

Andrew Lonergan's left hand post played a significant part in the lead up to Bolton's 20th minute goal. From a Bruno lay back Crofts thumped the ball against the post. The rebound could have gone anywhere but fell kindly for the home team who were able to break away down their left. Alonso's low shot from 25 yards went through a number of legs and seemed to bounce over Kuszczak's despairing dive. Towards half time Ngog escaped El-Abd and glanced a shot over the bar but apart from some catching practice for Kuszczak in the second half that was about it as far as Bolton's attacking credentials were concerned. 

Crofts, who impressed on his return after a long layoff, nearly scored in the first half from a clever Vicente free kick. As Vicente seemed to be setting himself up to shoot he laid the  ball off to Crofts whose fierce volley forced Lonergan into the save of the game as he palmed the ball away.

The second half was mainly attack versus defence as Bolton grimly held on to what they had achieved. Despite this the Albion were unable to force Lonergan into a meaningful save as the ball flew over the cross bar and past both posts on numerous occassions.  David Lopez drove just over the bar from 20 yards just after half time, Upson headed a corner inches over the bar, another David Lopez shot went just wide and Orlandi had appeared to have scored but his shot fell just the wrong side of the post.  Bridcutt tried his luck from distance and a Vicente shot was palmed down by the goalie. It appeared that every Albion player chanced their arm but to no effect. Too often, however, attacks just seemed to peter out with the ball bouncing gently into Lonergan's arms.

Barnes fired in about half a dozen times but his shots and headers were either charged down or flew well wide. From a fine David Lopez centre in the second half he screwed the ball horribly into the away supporters.

Albion's most creative players, usually David Lopez, Buckley and Vicente were usually surrounded by 2, and sometimes 3, defenders as soon as in possession.  

The Albion attack in the 2nd half

As the game progressed Barnes cut a increasingly forlorn figure. He clearly did not take kindly to the more agricultural element of Bolton's defending but received little sympathy from the referee. This was in sharp contrast with Ulloa who played with the heart of lion and the patience of Job as he was mauled, barged and pulled over with no protection whatsoever from the ref. 

The Albion dominated possession, passed the ball from side to side, probed down both sides of the pitch, brought on all their attacking substitutes but to no avail. The Bolton central defenders were outstanding and at the mearest hint of danger thumped the ball far away. I feel sure I caught Zat Knight and Lonergan smirking as yet another Albion attack came to nothing towards the end. 

What the game exposed was the Albion's need for another reliable striker to back up Ulloa. If we are to become solely dependent on him to score defences will quickly suss this out and we can wave goodbye to any play off chances.

To have 2 of your 4 strikers out for the season with injury and a third get himself sent off in his first full game since returning from his previous suspension is careless in the extreme.

Sitting in the Reebok it was difficult to see why Barnes was sent for an early bath. My immediate reaction was here we have a ref who wanted to take centre stage by sending somebody off with seconds to go in a match where feelings were running a bit high with the one of teams on the end of a totally undeserved result. I assumed Barnes had lipped the ref once too often. He clearly was very angry and Bruno had to usher him towards the tunnel to prevent further trouble. 

Another 2nd half attack comes to nothing

It was from the wonderful world of Twitter that I learnt after the game that  Barnes had allegedly tried to trip the ref. The ref was about twice the size of Barnes and the trip was not that evident from watching the game.   However, if  Barnes did do it and the club do not appeal the sending off he deserves whatever punishment comes his way. 

If our worse fears are confirmed Gus will have to rethink his worth to the side as such a short temper is just a liability and will be played on by other sides. In the short term Gus needs to get another striker in pretty quick or our play off chances will go down the plug along with water from Barnes slightly early bath.

The result of the game was a travesty. The Albion have been mugged by Bolton for 4 points this season and Saturday's game should be referred for investigation by the Office of Fair Trading. 

In the world of soccer cliches Tuesday's game against Barnsley will be "massive". I suspect Barnsley will take their lead from Bristol City and Bolton and set themselves up as the away team for a home game. Gus needs to work out a game plan for counteracting this.

Expectant happy travellers

Victory will take us up into 5th place with our play off destiny very much in our own hands. A defeat or a draw will leave us in the mix with four or five other teams. Going into the Palace game desperate for the 3 points will give Holloway an advantage we would wish to deny him.

STAT TO PONDER: Since returning to the Championship the Albion have yet to beat a recently relegated Premiership team. Last season it was  West Ham United, Blackpool and Birmingham City. This season it has been Bolton Wanderers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. Until yesterday all the games this season had ended in draws and we now only have the home game against Wolves to get that monkey off our back.

PROGRAMME WATCH: The match programme designated Liam Bridcutt as our "star man" and announced him as a striker. The research went a big astray there. It also nominated Ashley Barnes as the "one to watch". More ways than one as it turned out.

REF WATCH: Like most refs in this League tolerated the defensive rough stuff and gave Ulloa less protection than he offered the sainted Kevin Davies. Pretty fair otherwise. Sending off Barnes was the big decision and we await what happens next.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nobody let the Albion down at the Reebok apart from Barnes and all tried their hardest to find a way through. My man of the match was Liam Bridcutt. He swept superbly in front of the defence and was the launch point for many of the second half attacks. He least of all deserved to find himself on the losing side.