Baby Whites secure a point in North London
Wanderers’ Under 18 side secured their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw away at Arsenal on Saturday morning.
Having suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in their last trip to the capital against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, David Lee’s youngsters fought back from a goal down to earn themselves a creditable draw at London Colney.
Following a bright start, the Gunners took an early lead through Jamal Raage who fired into the roof of the net from just inside the area in the seventh minute of the game.
Despite finding themselves behind, the Whites enjoyed a number of chances to pull themselves level, with their hard work finally paying dividends on the stroke of half time as Guillermo Torres headed home from close range.
The club’s young guns proceeded to dominate proceedings in the second period, but their hard work was ultimately in vain as the game ended all square.
Speaking after the final whistle, coach Lee admitted that he was pleased with the resolve and determination shown by his team in North London.
“We were very determined not to allow Arsenal to have time and space on the ball, because we knew they could cause us problems,” he explained. “We pressed high up the pitch and regained possession in the attacking third.
“We dominated play and created several chances, with Arsenal’s goalkeeper being forced into making some excellent saves to deny us what I believe would have been a deserved win.
“Overall, it was a good test and we came through it – we will learn from it because there were some good individual performances within a disciplined professional performance.”
Bolton: Campbell, Kennedy, Hendrie, Nolan, Ball, Bailey, Newby, Cvetko, Torres (Hinchcliffe, 75), Knight, Walker