Kaiyne Woolery scores hat-trick as Wanderers come from behind to draw
IN BRIEF
Kaiyne Woolery scored a hat-trick as Bolton Wanderers Under-21s put in a spirited performance to recover from two goals down to draw 3-3 away at Leeds United on Monday.
Taking place at the Yorkshiremen's Thorp Arch training ground, the young Whites fell behind to a Casper Sloth brace before Bolton drew level thanks to Woolery strikes either side of half-time.
The forward fired the Trotters ahead for the first time with his third of the day midway through the second half, only for to Souleymane Doukara to equalise late on as Wanderers returned home with the spoils shared.
TEAM NEWS
Paul Rachubka made his first Under-21s start against his former club as one of three senior players named in the Wanderers starting XI, alongside Francesco Pisano and Lawrie Wilson.
Elsewhere, Jamie Thomas and Kaiyne Woolery came into the side in attack as Iain Brunskill made five changes to the side that faced Sheffield United in the young Whites' last outing.
FIRST HALF
Having seen kick off delayed by 15 minutes after the Wanderers team coach got stuck in traffic, the young Whites understandably started slowly following an enforced brief warm-up.
Falling behind early on, Casper Sloth raced clear of the Bolton defence to slot under Paul Rachubka to fire the hosts ahead after just seven minutes.
Looking to respond immediately, Jon Ceberio went close to instant equaliser soon after after nutmegging a defender and trying his luck from range, but the Spaniard's effort was straight at goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
At the other end, the Trotters fell further behind as Sloth netted his second after 20 minutes. Running onto Souleymane Doukara's through-ball, the midfielder again managed to coolly finish past Rachubka after finding himself one-on-one.
Awakened by falling further behind, Wanderers took control of proceedings as the half wore on with Ceberio remaining heavily involved.
The playmaker unleashed Jamie Thomas on the half-hour mark, only for the Welshman to be denied by Peacock-Farrell from an acute angle, before later seeing Woolery head his lofted cross narrowly wide after running down the right onto Lawrie Wilson's through-ball.
But it was to be third time lucky for Ceberio soon after as he picked out Woolery with a pinpoint pass, gifting the forward with a simple finish to halve the deficit after he sprung the offside trap.
Creator almost turned goalscorer moments later as Ceberio again looked to beat Peacock-Farrell with a fierce strike from range, only for the goalkeeper to get down low to tip away, ensuring the Whites remained a goal behind at the break.
SECOND HALF
However, Bolton wasted barely any time to level the scores following the restart as Woolery took advantage of a defensive mix-up to steal possession off Peacock-Farrell, before hammering home into an empty net for a deserved equaliser.
At the other end, Rachubka was called into action on three separate occasions to deny Doukara and Eoghan Stokes, the former Leeds goalkeeper pulling off a series of fine fingertip saves to keep out powerful long-range strikes that looked destined for the back of the net.
Ceberio, Thomas and Woolery continued to threaten for the Trotters as the visitors pressed to take the lead, the former volleying straight at Peacock-Farrell from distance shortly after the hour-mark.
Later combining following a corner, Woolery was unfortunate not to hit the target after looking to connect with Thomas' flick on, before both were later denied by Peacock-Farrell from close-range in quick-succession.
However, continuing to go in search for his hat-trick, Woolery would not be denied much longer as he fired Wanderers ahead midway through the half.
Controlling the ball in midfield, the forward showed great determination to power through a number of Leeds bodies into the penalty area, before confidently drilling past Peacock-Farrell into the bottom corner.
But despite taking the lead, the Whites would not remain in front for long as Doukara took advantage of goalkeeping error to tap home into an empty net to level the scores once more.
There was still time for one last chance for Bolton as Thomas burst down the right-hand side on the counter-attack before cutting in. However, he failed to get enough power on his shot on his weaker left foot, allowing Leeds to clear as the end-to-end encounter finished in stalemate.
FULL TIME
TEAMS
Bolton: Rachubka, Pisano, Lussey, Wilson, Taylor, Finney, Maher, Holding, Woolery, Ceberio, Thomas.
Unused substitutes: Newell, Campbell, Samizadeh, Cvetko, Campbell-Young.
Development Squad match report sponsors: Bristol Street Motors