Report: Colwyn Bay 1-2 Bolton Wanderers XI

Bolton Wanderers XI extended their unbeaten pre-season run to five matches as goals in each half from George Newell and Callum Spooner earned them victory away at Colwyn Bay.

Having seen Jamie Thomas already have an effort cleared off the line, the Whites took the lead shortly before the break, Newell tapping home into an empty net after Thomas’ initial strike was saved.

Sam Barnes equalised for Colwyn Bay just after the restart, heading home from a corner, but Spooner clinched the win midway through the second half as his cross floated over goalkeeper Chris Sanna’s head into the top corner. 

Quade Taylor came into the Bolton side against Colwyn Bay as Iain Brunskill were three changes made to the team that beat Chorley on Wednesday.

Jamie Thomas replaced Kaiyne Woolery in attack while Channing Campbell-Young came in for Medo Kamara.

In what was a lively start at Llanelian Road, both sides created opportunities to take the lead inside the opening five minutes.

With the first chance falling to Colwyn Bay, Robbie Booth cut in from the right before unleashing a fierce strike from the edge of the box which flew narrowly over the crossbar.

At the other end, Jon Ceberio turned well in the middle of the park before trying his luck himself from range, though he was unable to hit the target.

Continuing to exchange attacks in the opening quarter, Jamie Thomas drilled a free-kick into Colwyn Ball’s wall on the ten-minute mark, before Ross Fitzsimons got down well to tip away a low Chris Sharp shot behind soon after.

Wanderers began to take control of proceedings as the half wore on with Thomas heavily involved in the thick of the action.

The forward picked out George Newell inside the area with a clever chipped pass , however, with bodies in the way he was unable to get his shot away.

Next to go close for the Whites was Rob Holding as he embarked on a great solo-run down the left, twisting and turning to beat two men as he cut in before shooting at goal only for goalkeeper Chris Sanna to get across and tip the strike away.

Moments later Andy Kellett whipped in a wicked cross from the left that Sanna struggled to deal with. 

Palming the ball into Thomas’ path, the forward looked set to fire Bolton ahead with the goal gaping, only for Colwyn Bay defender to appear at the last moment and hammer his strike off the line.

On the half-hour, Channing Campbell-Young was unfortunate to see his effort following a corner float narrowly over the bar.

However, the Trotters were ahead just ten minutes later through Newell following good work in the area from Thomas.

Controlling Quade Taylor’s pinpoint diagonal ball in the box, Thomas nutmegged a defender before looked to bend an effort beyond Sanna into the bottom corner.

However, the Colwyn Bay goalkeeper managed to get fingertips onto the forward’s curling effort, only for the rebound to fall kindly to Newell as he calmly planted the ball into the empty net – ensuring Wanderers went in at the break a goal to the good.  

Harry Campbell, Callum Spooner, Tyler Garratt, Alex Perry, Chris Cvetko and Kaiyne Woolery all joined the action at half-time as Iain Brunskill made full use of his quota of substitutions.

However, they barely had time to catch their breath before the Whites found themselves pegged back by the hosts – Sam Barnes heading home at the far post after being left unmarked following a corner.

Cvetko and Thomas both tried efforts from range to restore Bolton’s lead soon after, only for the duo to be denied by Sanna on both occasions.

Colwyn Bay saw shouts for a penalty turned away just after the hour-mark after Wes Baynes took a tumble in the penalty area, before Sanna was quick off his line at the other end to pounce at Campbell-Young’s feet after the midfielder was played in by Thomas.

Sanna continued to deny the Trotters with Kaiyne Woolery the latest player to be left feeling frustrated by his efforts.

The forward looked to round the Colwyn Bay goalkeeper and roll the ball into the empty net for what would have been a carbon-copy of his midweek winner against Chorley, only for Sanna to get fingertips to the ball as he Woolery prepared to pull the trigger.

However, there was nothing Sanna could do about Wanderers’ winner as substitute Spooner fired the Whites ahead.

Receiving the ball out on the right, the defender looked to whip the ball into the area only for his cross to float over Sanna’s head into the top corner to hand Bolton a fortuitous lead.

Thomas could have given the scoreline a more convincing feel come the final whistle after running onto Woolery’s cutback inside the area, only for his goalbound effort to be deflected away.

But it did not matter come the final whistle as the Trotters saw out the match to claim a deserved victory against the North Wales outfit. 

Bolton: Fitzsimons (Campbell 46), Maher (Spooner 46), Holding (Garratt 46), Taylor, Finney, Lussey (Perry 46), Campbell-Young, Kellett (Cvetko 46), Newell, Ceberio (Woolery 46), Thomas.