Jamie Thomas nets a brace as young Whites finish their season with a win
Wanderers’ Under-18s beat Southampton in their last game of the 2014/15 season on Saturday thanks to two first-half goals from Jamie Thomas.
Fresh from scoring the Under-21s winner against Blackburn Rovers on Thursday, the young forward fired the Whites into the lead on the half-hour mark, shrugging off a challenge to cut in after running onto Nat Phillips' diagonal through-ball before firing across goal into the bottom corner.
Thomas netted his second soon after, lobbing the Saints goalkeeper after being picked out in the box by Alex Honeyball's long ball forward.
Stuart Wilkin halved the deficit late on, while Thomas was unfortunate not to score a hat-trick as he saw another chipped effort drift just wide of the post, but Bolton held on for all three points as they finished their season on a high.
Speaking following the final whistle, coach David Lee shared his pride at the result against one of the strongest youth set-ups in the country.
"We started very well and Jamie put us ahead with two very well-taken goals, with the passes to set up both equally impressive.
"We were by far the better team in possession and dominated the play play for the majority of the game.
"We worked hard in the second half, again creating chances and were really unlucky not to score a third.
"I named four Under-16s players in the squad, which was great experience for them, and overall it was a very pleasing result against a highly-regarded academy."
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Spooner, Garratt, Phillips, Honeyball, Allen, McKenna (Likoy-Elumba 60), Cvetko, Palmer (Lonsdale 80), Thomas, White (Griffiths 75)