Bolton Wanderers were dumped out of the FA Cup at the first round stage after a 2-1 loss at the hands of Barnsley.
The match was fewer than six minutes old when Bolton skipper Ricardo Santos inadvertantly put through his own goal from Nicky Cadden's dangerous cross to give the Tykes an early lead. Dion Charles appeared to have equalised not long after, but his header was chalked off for offside.
Barnsley doubled their advantage before half-time as Adam Phillips fired home a smart strike from the edge of the box. It gave James Trafford little chance.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Barnsley - Jon Dadi Bodvarsson good in FA Cup exit
After the break, Charles again had the ball in the back of the net but it was once more ruled out for offside. But Jon Dadi Bodvarsson halved the deficit with 10 minutes to go with a powerful header which Barnsley's rearguard could not keep out on the line.
Despite continuing to press for an equaliser, it did not come for Bolton and the Whites exited the competition. Following the full-time whistle and seven minutes of added time, Evatt and opposite number Michael Duff walked onto the pitch pointing at one another as they had to be separated by referee Carl Boyeson.
After the loss, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt gave his initial reaction and here's what he had to say.
A disappointing and frustrating afternoon?
“Yeah another one. We had a look at something different today from the start, we changed to a 4-3-3, gave the ones that have suffered with the shape a little bit a chance to show what they can do in the right positions and I thought first half, with the ball and attacking we looked a threat, we got ourselves into some good areas.
“But defensively we looked a little bit open, especially in transition and we conceded two awful goals. They were really bad goals. The second one is an excellent strike but it’s the build-up which is awful from our perspective and our point of view.
“Second half the team don’t know when they’re beat and they rallied and put them under pressure. They’re difficult to play against, the way they play against awkward and difficult and we didn’t get that second goal to draw level.
“That game was the theme of the last month really. We’ve done okay in spells, played well in spells, but also given ourselves a mountain to climb by shooting ourselves in the foot.”
You’ve not been particularly happy with the last month - what’s been the biggest disappointment?
“I just think we’re better than what we’ve shown the last month. I think we’re lots better and it’s easy sometimes to begrudge the last month and the way we’ve played, but if a bad month looks like three wins and a draw out of seven, then it shows you how much we’ve progressed.
“We put huge demands on ourselves, huge demands on the players, I put huge demands on myself and staff and we want to be winners, we want success. This club deserves success.
“I think getting another string to our bow with the 4-3-3 needs more work and needs developing but I did see some positive signs, but we’ll continuously work on the training ground as we always do and try and improve.”
What happened at the end of the game with the Barnsley manager, was that just frustration?
“I just think it’s frustration but it’s our own doing because we give opportunities to disrupt by being behind in the game, so credit to them and good luck in the next round.”
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