Bolton Wanderers drew 2-2 against Preston North End this afternoon, with goals coming from Sammy Ameobi and Pawel Olkowski at Deepdale.
PRE-MATCH
Manager Phil Parkinson made four changes from his starting line-up against Sheffield United, bringing in Andy Taylor and Gary O’Neil in place of Jonathan Grounds and Luke Murphy.
Additionally, Yanic Wildschut and Joe Williams came in for Will Buckley and Josh Vela.
FIRST HALF
First chance of the game went Preston’s way with six minutes gone, as Graham Burke found a pocket of space on the edge of the Wanderers’ area, but his effort was poor and trickled wide.
Preston took the lead soon after, with an intercepted Yanic Wildschut pass finding the feet of North End’s Brandon Barker, who slotted in his striking partner Callum Robinson.
The forward rounded Ben Alnwick before calmly slotting the ball home.
The deficit doubled on 16 minutes with Paul Gallagher finding Irishman Alan Browne, who hit an impressive half volley from the edge of the area, leaving Alnwick no chance as it sailed into the top corner.
Gallagher had a speculative effort from distance just after the 20-minute mark, but his half volley attempt flew way over Alnwick’s crossbar.
Sammy Ameobi came close minutes after, with a run down the left-hand side to the byline ending in a low driven effort which had to be dealt with by Declan Rudd.
Chances came for Bolton, when a corner to the Whites found the head of skipper David Wheater, but he was unable to beat Rudd as he gathered the ball at the second attempt.
Lilywhites responded with a chance of their own, with combination play between Burke and Browne resulting in an effort on goal from Burke, whose driven strike whistled past the post.
Bolton soon had a response through winger Ameobi, who picked up the ball with space to run into.
After sprinting infield, he unleashed a thunderbolt from 30 yards that deflected into the back of the Preston goal.
Wanderers had the bit between their teeth from then on in the first half, with an equaliser coming through an unlikely source in Pawel Olkowski.
The Polish right back latched onto a loose ball just inside the Preston penalty area and unleashed a mighty effort on goal which hit the underside of the bar and beat Declan Rudd’s outstretched arm.
SECOND HALF
After an exciting first period, the game took until the 67thminute for a chance to come.
That came in the form of Jason Lowe, who reacted fastest to a Gary O’Neil corner and fired goalwards but his strike was blocked well by Preston.
Ameobi came close soon after, as the ball fell to him in the area, but he couldn’t direct his shot towards Rudd’s goal.
Preston began to ramp up the pressure, as a driven ball across the box found its way towards Robinson who only had Alnwick to beat, but he couldn’t get past the goalkeeper as he palmed the ball away from danger.
The Lilywhites kept on coming as Barkhuizen rolled the ball into Robinson had tested Alnwick, as he was forced into a diving save to clear the threat.
Deep into added time and both sides had their chances, with Robinson once again trying to find the winner for Preston, but his effort was to no avail as referee Andy Davies ended proceedings.
After the final whistle, Ben Pearson was shown a red card after an altercation with Joe Williams.
FULL TIME
Wanderers XI: Alnwick, Taylor (Grounds 75), Lowe, Beevers, Ameobi, Olkowski, O’Neil, Williams, Magennis, Wildschut (Noone 60), Wheater (C)
Unused substitutes: Matthews, Vela, Oztumer, Donaldson, Hobbs
Attendance: 16,331 (4,144 visitors)