Yeovil Town v Bolton Wanderers

IN BRIEF

Bolton Wanderers fought back from two goals down to salvage a late point at Yeovil.

Ismael Miller and Kevin Dawson struck for the hosts prior to half time.

But Bolton halved the deficit immediately after the half time interval through Lukas Jutkiewicz.

And after a red card for Alex Baptiste and a missed Miller penalty, Wanderers levelled late on through an unlikely source.

Zat Knight’s late goal ensured Bolton left Somerset with a share of the spoils.

Dougie Freedman named three changes to the side that seven days earlier had been beaten on their own patch by Brighton.

Mark Davies, Neil Danns and Zat Knight were in from the off; Chung-Yong Lee, Liam Trotter and David Wheater were benched, alongside the fit again Jermaine Beckford.

With just three minutes on the clock Bolton engineered the first chance of the contest.

Alex Baptiste, scorer in the reverse fixture back in September, knocked the ball beyond Luke Ayling before delivering a pinpoint cross for Lukas Jutkiewicz who glanced a header wide.

Yeovil’s main threat in the early throes came via a couple of well-worked set pieces.

First, Jamie McAllister clipped a disguised ball into the path of the onrushing Shane Duffy, who failed to direct a free header goalwards.

Moments later Tom Lawrence, a real livewire down the hosts’ left flank, won a free-kick 25 yards from goal which he himself struck, forcing Adam Bogdan into a smart low save.

The physical presence of Yeovil’s front pair, Miller and Kieffer Moore, meant they were a constant target for copious long balls forward. In fairness, the Wanderers rearguard stood up to the task well, with Knight and Tim Ream seemingly nullifying any significant threats.

That was until the 32 minute mark.

Dawson engineered space down the right side before delivering a low cross that an unmarked Miller was able to divert first time into the far corner of the net. 

Buoyed by the opener, Yeovil sensed a quick-fire second. 

Lawrence’s spectacular effort from all of 30 yards was superbly tipped over the bar by an in-flight Bogdan before Miller bent an effort narrowly wide of the far post from the edge of the area.

But that pressure would eventually tell on 41 minutes.

Lawrence was once again at the heart of the move. He jinked one way then the other on the left side before picking out an unmarked Dawson. He was afforded time in which to take a touch, before drilling a low effort through the legs of Ream and into the far corner.

Prior to the interval Medo Kamara saw a long-range free-kick saved on second attempt by Marek Stech.

Within minutes of the restart both Neil Danns and Medo shot wide, as the infrared shirts visibly upped the ante.

And it the deficit was halved on 53 minutes.

Jutkiewicz did well to control the ball on the edge of the area, and when surrounded by a ruck of Yeovil shirts fired a snap-shot goalwards that skidded low into net.

Wanderers were now in the ascendancy. 

Following a corner kick a scrambled ensued in the Yeovil six yard, with Stech eventually grateful to see the ball bobble behind for a goal kick.

Bolton were piling men forward, but at times were susceptible to a counter attack. 

On one particular occasion Moore burst forward and slipped a clever ball into Miller, who was only denied his second of the afternoon by a last ditch block from a covering Alan Hutton.

Yeovil eventually steadied the ship. Freedman introduced Beckford and, later, Moritz, in place of Joe Mason and Mark Davies in an attempt to claw back an equaliser.

With just ten minutes left on the clock Yeovil had the opportunity to put the game to bed.

Miller’s inventive back-heel on edge of the area released Dawson, who when in the clear was hauled down by Baptiste. After consulting the linesman, referee Darren Deadman pointed to the spot and showed Baptiste a straight red card.

But when the penalty was eventually taken, Miller struck the outside of the post.

And the drama continued to unfold as Bolton pulled a rabbit out of the hat with a leveller.

Knight was the unlikely scorer, looping a header into the net from Jay Spearing’s free-kick.

Yeovil threw everyone forward, but after a few late scares Bolton held on for a valuable point.