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Charleston Battery 0 Wanderers 2

Posted on: Sun 18 Jul 2010

Kevin Davies and Tamir Cohen notched their first goals of pre-season as Wanderers made it two wins from two on their tour of North America.

Again it was another comfortable victory for Owen Coyle's side with 22 players getting at least 25 minutes of action - most notably Sean Davis and Joey O'Brien, who made their long-awaited comebacks from injury.

The second successive clean sheet was another bonus too in a game which again was played in humid conditions.

But Wanderers coped with the heat as they stepped up their fitness ahead of the season opener against Fulham in four weeks time.

There was a touch of class about the performance as both goals stemmed from free-flowing team moves.

They made the most of the lush Blackbaud Stadium turf and knocked the ball around crisply and patiently throughout as they continued in the same manner from their opening victory against Charlotte Eagles.

The first chance that the Whites conjured up in fact came from a Charleston mistake.

A misplaced pass from midfielder Kevin Jackson allowed Johan Elmander to play in Martin Petrov but the Bulgarian's cross was slightly too heavy and Matt Taylor couldn't convert at the far post.

Indeed, Wanderers really had a feel for the ball in the first half, playing in short sharp triangles as though it was a training drill.

Still they would look for the killer pass at the right time and Mark Davies almost supplied that for Elmander with 20 minutes on the clock. The Swedish striker rounded goalkeeper Wiggans but unfortunately ran out of space on the by-line.

The game kick-started slightly following that opportunity as Lemar Neagle, who had scored the winner the previous day in Battery's 1-0 victory over Real Maryland, fired just over from outside the area and Petrov had a penalty shout fall on deaf ears when he took a tumble inside the box.

Petrov, as with the game against Charlotte, was again the main source of ingenuity, interchanging from the left and right touchline. It was no surprise that the number 10 played a helping hand in Wanderers opening goal of the evening, scored by Kevin Davies on the half-hour mark.

Having been set free down the left by the energetic Matt Taylor, Petrov took the ball in his stride and fizzed across a low centre for the skipper to convert from just four yards out.

The same combination linked-up again just ten minutes later as Wanderers again broke quickly, however this time Petrov's cross was just too high for Davies.

Jussi Jaaskelainen had a trouble-free first 45 minutes and the closest he came to being called into duty was on the stroke of half-time when Jon Gruenewald was slightly off-target with a powerful drive.

Just before the interval there was a scare for Sean Davis, who had enjoyed a relatively comfortable return to the team after 11 months on the sidelines.

The former Fulham man was recklessly hacked to the floor by Jamaican midfielder O'Brian Woodbine and required treatment from physio Andy Mitchell before regaining his feet.

A great sight was the appearance of Joey O'Brien for the first time since October 2008 as he occupied a role in the centre of midfield alongside fellow substitutes Fabrice Muamba and Tamir Cohen in the second-half.

It didn't take long for the latter to make an impact as the Israeli international doubled Bolton's lead just six minutes after the restart.

Again it was another slick move as Gardner and Kevin Davies combined before Cohen raced clear and delicately chipped into the net from just inside the penalty area.

Joey O'Brien seemed to relish his return to the fold and it was reassuring to see the Republic of Ireland man not holding back on any runs or tackles. Indeed, he was actually the only Bolton player to get booked when he brought down Amaury Nunes and he probably should have done better with a free header from a Gardner corner.

Owen Coyle made two further changes after 63 minutes as Danny Ward and Riga replaced Kevin Davies and Zat Knight.

A reshuffle in defence saw Sam Ricketts move to centre-half alongside Andy O'Brien, while Paul Robinson shifted over to the right and Ricardo Gardner dropped to left-back.

It also meant that Danny Ward was given half an hour to lead the line on his own and the youngster did his credentials no harm with a few neat touches.

After Riga volleyed into the arms of Wiggans on 70 minutes, the former Swindon loanee should have scored his first goal in Bolton colours after being set free by an inch perfect Robbie Blake slide-rule pass.

But the Charleston keeper was again well placed and he made a fine save to deny Ward from 12 yards out.

In the final stages there was an unfamiliar sight as rookie goalkeeper Rob Lainton made an emergency appearance as an outfield player.

Robbie Blake was withdrawn with a slight hamstring twinge and within seconds of coming onto the field, Lainton found himself unmarked just yards out.

But the youngster failed to get a telling touch and the ball floated just past the post.

In stoppage time, Battery wasted their best chance of the evening as substitute striker Maynard got in behind the Wanderers defence only to curl wide of the mark when faced in a one-on-one position with Bogdan.

It was the last action of an entertaining evening in Charleston in which 5,249 spectators, including a loyal few from Bolton, turned out to watch.

Wanderers now head north of the border for the third and final leg of the tour in Toronto, where they will play the MLS club on Wednesday evening.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen (Bogdan 46), Steinsson (Ricketts 46), Cahill (Andy O'Brien 46), Knight (Riga 63), Samuel (Robinson 46), Petrov (Gardner 46), Davis (Joey O'Brien 46), Mark Davies (Cohen 46), Matt Taylor (Muamba 46), Kevin Davies (Danny Ward 63), Elmander (Blake 46, Lainton 85)

Charleston Battery: Keith Wiggans, O'Brian Woodbine (Pierre-Rudolph Mayard 74), Colin Falvey, John Wilson, Mike Zaher, Jon Grunewald, Alioune Gueye, Kevin Jackson, Stephen Armstrong, Lemar Neagle, Tom Heinemann (Subs not used: Kyle Reynish, Nigel Marples, Brandon Massie, Zach Prince, Amaury Nunes, Levi Coleman)