Report: Charlton 0-0 Bolton
IN BRIEF
Bolton’s unbeaten run shows no sign of letting up following a hard fought draw against Charlton at The Valley.
In a scrappy game played on a bobbly pitch, Wanderers dug deep to snuff out forays forward from the hosts and should have arguably won the game.
In the second half Matt Mills saw a header cleared off the line whilst Neil Danns blasted over from just inside the area.
In the end Bolton had to settled for a share of the spoils and in doing have now suffered just one defeat in their last 13 outings.
TEAM NEWS
Wanderers’ team showed three changes to the starting line-up that had previously seen off Barnsley at Reebok.
David Wheater, Neil Danns and Lukas Jutkiewicz were in from the off, with Alex Baptiste, Robert Hall and Andre Moritz on the bench.
Marvin Sordell, approaching the end of a season-long loan spell at The Valley, was ineligible for the hosts.
FIRST HALF
Bolton set much of the early tempo, with comfortable opening ten or so minutes eventually yielding the game’s first opening.
Jutkiewicz latched onto Alan Hutton’s through ball in the right channel, before firing a dangerous cross into the Charlton six yard box. Liam Trotter’s shot was then spilled by Ben Hamer, before after a period of pinball Charlton eventually cleared their lines.
The hosts responded with a brief flurry of efforts. First, Morgan Fox skipped forward from left-back and saw his fierce cross glanced narrowly wide at the near post by Simon Church.
Astrit Ajdarevic then volleyed wide from the edge of the area before Reza Ghoochannejhad saw a shot when in the clear smothered by Adam Bogdan.
On 30 minutes Danns flashed a shot narrowly over the bar from distance whilst Jutkiewicz’s back post header from a set piece was well blocked, as the remainder of the half somewhat fizzled out.
HALF TIME
Within five minutes of the restart Bolton engineered their best opening of the contest in front of the stand that housed their travelling fans.
A routine corner kick was clipped into the near post by Tim Ream, with Matt Mills looping a header goalwards that was acrobatically cleared off the line by Diego Poyet.
The game suddenly had life and began to become stretched.
Church attempted to pinch the ball off the foot of Bogdan before hitting the deck and appealing for a spot kick. The referee waved away the appeals of the home fans.
Bolton were marginally the better side, though it just seemed the ball wouldn’t quite sit up at the vital moment in the final third.
Jutkiewicz and Beckford both saw snapshots well held by Hamer, as Wanderers began to turn the screw with just 20 minutes left on the clock.
Late on Charlton’s primary threat came from wide crosses into the box. Michael Morrison and sub Jonathan Obika both heading wide late on.
There was still time for Beckford to superbly beat three men and tee up Danns, though the on-loan midfielder failed to find the target from inside the area, as the game eventually ended goalless.
FULL TIME