Mark Litherland’s young Wanderers side exited the FA Youth Cup at the first stage with a shock home defeat to Guiseley at the University of Bolton Stadium. Bright Amoateng gave Wanderers a first-half advantage, but a late goal from Lewis Hey forced extra time before the West Yorkshire outfit edged decisively ahead thanks to a superb Ethan Hudson-Parker strike.
Wanderers began the game with a real element of control about their play with skipper Regan Riley and Finlay Lockett looking to get on the ball as much as they could in the early stages.
The first chance of the evening fell to Bright Amoateng who latched onto Nathan Whalley’s cross from the left-hand side with a fantastic header towards the bottom corner, only to see his attempt kept out superbly by Guiseley stopper Hagie Damba.
The visitors had a decent opportunity of their own just before the quarter hour mark after they had won a free-kick in Wanderers territory. Lewis Hey floated a free-kick into the box, only to see Harrison Leigh’s downward header go wide of the target when he was in a promising position at the far post.
Mark Litherland’s side found themselves incredibly fortunate after conceding a penalty, only to see the referee make a U-Turn on his decision after spotting that the linesman’s flag was already raised on the far side for an offside call. A sizeable let off for Wanderers.
Wanderers took the lead midway through the first half when Bright Amoateng controlled Matthew Tweedley’s low cross into the box from the right-hand side, before lashing an unstoppable low drive across Hagie Damba’s goal and into the bottom corner.
Amoateng was causing Guiseley some real problems, and moments later he once again controlled a cross from the right but this time he teed up Finlay Lockett for a shot from the edge of the box but his attempt went comfortably wide of the mark.
In the thick of the action, Amoateng should certainly have doubled his tally for the evening just before the break. Arran Pettifer brought the ball forward from midfield and picked the forward out with a sublime chipped pass into his path, but he was denied from close range by Damba.
The visitors started the second half with intent and looking to find their way back into the game. A dangerous cross from the left-hand side found Darwin King at the far post just a couple of yards from goal, but he was off balance and couldn’t manage to get that all-important touch.
King combined with Hey shortly afterwards, heading across the goal to his team mate but the latter saw an attempt from inside the six yard box blocked importantly by Lamine Toure, who aside from a later mistake delivered an impressive performance at the back.
Wanderers had to wait until ten minutes into the half to have their first chance of the second half and it fell to Kian Le Fondre. Lockett did well down the left-hand side to deliver a cross under pressure and although his cross found its way to the 15 year-old starlet, he could only watch as his attempt 12 yards from goal went well over the bar.
Luke Hutchinson had to be at his alert best in the Wanderers goal to keep out Hey’s well-struck free-kick from 20 yards out, and then Damba made a fairly routine stop to hold onto Mitchell Henry’s shot from the edge of the box.
Jay Fitzmartin was introduced from the substitutes bench in place of Amoateng with a quarter of an hour of the ninety to go and he looked bright from the get go. After winning the ball high up the field, the ball was worked to Max Conway on the left-hand side; Conway’s low cross found Fitzmartin but his eventual shot after going round a defender, was held onto by Damba.
With a minute left on the clock, Guiseley equalised to force extra-time. Toure played a stray pass across his box which Hutchinson had to hurriedly clear, but only into the path of Hey who saw a first-time shot from distance find the net despite Toure having recovered into a favourable position on the line.
Guiseley scored what proved to be the winner midway through extra-time. Latching onto an inviting ball over the top, he got to the ball before his marker before hammering an unstoppable shot past Hutchinson and into the top corner from just inside the box. Ultimately, a disappointing evening for the Under-18s.
Bolton Wanderers: Hutchinson, Tweedley, Whalley, Colvin, Toure, Pettifer, Henry, Riley, Amoateng (Fitzmartin 76), Lockett (Brown 103), Le Fondre (Conway 65).
Unused Subs: Litherland, Thompson,
Guiseley: Damba, Calvert, Brown, Molokwu, Bostan, Hey, King (Glover 87), Charles (Metcalfe 116), Trought (Hudson-Parker 54), Leigh, Reape (Ball 103).
Unused Subs: Caldicott, Nkem, Raynar.
Bolton Wanderers Goals: Amoateng (24)
Guiseley Goals: Hey (89), Hudson-Parker (104)