The CanariesSoccer Match Center for: Trotters @ Canaries

Thank you very, very, very much - great follow up!

 

massive goal. second clean sheet without our best two defenders? who'd have thought it?

 

Yep, I feared the worst when Zak went off but all credit to the team today. They have done a terrific job today

 

Swansea have won - well done to them. God West Brom are crap at home

and well done for two consecutive home clean sheets!

 

That's why we're staying up

 

Really important result today!

 

FOund our best central back pairing!

Great result, we're nearly there

 

still worried about ayala and whitbread, but what a great team we support eh? 24 games in 6-8(ish) points off safety, 12 off relegation zone.

god i LOVE this club!

 

Great 3 points, and an emphatic bounce back from the Stadium of Light no show. Referee didn't help us, but he at least didn't give the penalty when N'gog fell over John Ruddy! Bad to lose both CBs but with Rusty/Barnett/Ward I think we'll be ok.

Ratings:

Ruddy - 8.5 - Caught nearly every cross/corner and made the 2 makeshift CBs sleep easier. Few shots to save but deserved clean sheet.
Naughton - 8.0 - Filling in at CB can't have been much fun, but he did a good job.
Ayala - N/A - Shame he's injured, step up Leon Barnett and get well soon Ward!
Whitbred - N/A - See Ayala
Drury - 8.0 - Decent in attack and defence and lasted the whole 90 minutes! God knows where we go if he gets injured though.
Fox - 7.5 - A nice cog in midfield, but wasted some moves with 30+ yards shots.
Surman - 8.5 - Very effective in midfield, missed a sitter but when the chance came to redeem himself, he put it well out of the 'keeper's reach.
Pilkington - 8.0 - Scored a nice follow-up, but didn't actually seem so involved in the play.
Hoolahan - 8.5 - Anonymous only a few days ago, today he was brilliant, tricking Bolton's teams laying off balls, like he does best.
Jackson - 8.5 - Lively. Made our first goal, just a question mark over the number of half-chances he missed.
Holt - 9.0 (MoM) - Wasted some good chances, but made him a nuisance. What impressed me what the responsibility he took defending set pieces when he was really needed and took care of Zat Knight/Davies etc.

Subs:
R Martin - 8.5 - After the Sunderland game, he must of felt he had a point to prove. When the chance came through Ayala's injury he grabbed it with both hands.
E Bennett - 8.5 - Not a foot wrong in attack, and played as if he has been a RB all his life, with not even a toenail wrong at our end. Mustn't have been easy, but I was really impressed with him today.
Morrison - 8.0 - Also very lively, I just wish we could of had 3 strikers this game. Those who complain about him being on the left wing all the time need not fear - he was on the right wing this time!

 

It was a vast improvement from Wednesday but jesus it could not have been any worse!

Really pleased with what I saw today and feeling much happier looking at the league table

 

Largely agree with Marsupials ratings. Felt that much as we were bad at Sunderland, we were very good today. We had a period where we had to soak up pressure after the CBs went off injured, however fair play to Martin & Naughton who were excellent. Very important to bounce back after midweek, and we are looking better and better for Premier League survival.

 

Great performance from the team today does anyone know who was the official man of the match?

Credit has to go to jackson and martin today hardly noticed kevin davies when he came on and Ngog was looking a bit desperate.

Overall brilliant game for us which could have been a disaster with the injuries and lack of options for lambert

 

Ratings:

Ruddy- 8 - had barely anything to do, but dealt with crosses very well and Petrov's shots- clearly stepped up his game when the centre halves went off and so is looking very experienced now. Great save for that in-swinging corner too.
Naughton- 9 - magnificent. Much better control on the ball than last match and looks the part at right back. At centre-half, however, he was really impressive
Ayala- 6- great tackle just as he was injured, otherwise did nothing
Whitbread- 6- looks composed on the ball, such a shame when he went off
Drury- 8 - Almost faultless, without anything spectacular. Did a great job against Eagles and doesn't look out of place at all. Not sure why he wasn't played last match on this performance. His passing was accurate
Fox- 6- solid, but unimpressive. Not his best game, but then you want your DM to be invisible I suppose
Surman- 6- fantastic goal, but a horror miss. Looked much better in the second half, but first half his touch was wayward and passing wasn't great.
Pilkington- 7- played a lot deeper once the injuries kicked in, which was an impressive level of flexibility, defended well. Nothing impressive from him, but the goal was taken well.
Hoolahan- 9- BOUNCEBACK! much better
Jackson- 8- great movement and did really well for the assist, but I would have expected him to get a goal today with the chances he had.
Holt- 7- industrious as ever. Visibly frustrated in the first half and allowed himself to go chasing the ball when he would have done better to stay in the box, but very effective in the second half despite the miss.

Martin- 9- big step up having been dropped to the bench. Dealt brilliantly with being the main centre-half
Bennett- 9- also out of position and worked incredibly hard. Once he was able to get forward in the second half his passing was good and he looked dangerous. Improving fast.
Morison- 7- didn't get a huge amount of time, but it was a massively improved effort from Wednesday. Thought he could have done better with the header.



EDIT- sorry Marsupial! Was writing very slowly...

 

Excellent win for us. Passed the ball well and made some good chances. Could easily of been 4-0.

Special mention for Bennett who I thought was excellent. Agree with Canary Rob. Remember he played out of position in recent QPR match and didn't put a foot wrong their either. I really rate him. Jackson looked sharp too. Shame he didn't finish today. Also Ruddy is really becoming reliable and think we are lucky to have him.

What a way to come back from the Sunderland match.

 

Very happy with todays result. Had to endure not being able to watch most of the game streaming for first time in ages as working a rare saturday shift, but managed to see the last 25 minutes, and oh how pleased I was with those minutes! Huge result, some might say the team was colossal...

 

Spelt colossal very wrong, there's only one way to find out....read any of Lamberts post-match interviews...

 

We could of scored when it was 0-0 and 1-0, good game anyway

 

Might need to consider changing your name to Bolton4Championship

Do not honestly think you will go down but it's going to be a hell of a scrap in the bottom 5 now.