Yan’s the man
WILDSCHUT MAKES HIS MARK
LESS than a month after going on strike, Phil Parkinson’s Bolton pickets got their season off to a flying start thanks to Yanic Wildschut’s debut goal.
Having downed tools briefly in pre-season, the Trotters delivered a hammer blow to West Brom thanks to Wildschut and fellow debutant Josh Magennis.
Harvey Barnes marked his own debut for Albion with a stunning goal in first-half stoppage time but Darren Moore’s men suffered defeat in their first game back in the Championship after eight seasons in the Premier League.
It meant a fine start for Parkinson’s men, who had refused to play a pre-season game at St Mirren in early July in a dispute over wages and bonuses.
“The strike thing was blown out of proportion a little bit,” said Parkinson.
“They are a very good set of lads. We had a few issues in the club we had to sort out but the chairman has rectified that and the lads’ attitude in pre-season has been good even though we had that blip along the way.
“Everyone knows how hard it is to get away wins in the Championship, how hard you’ve got to work and we gave that today. We had to put in a shift against a very good team with a lot of technical ability.”
West Brom dominated early on and had the game’s first clear effort when on-loan Leicester midfielder Barnes fired straight at Bolton goalkeeper Ben Alnwick.
Yet Bolton threatened from a series of corners and led on 18 minutes when the Baggies failed to deal with a right-wing cross from Sammy Ameobi.
Magennis was unmarked and his header found the corner past a despairing dive by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Albion survived a further scare moments later when David Wheater headed a fraction wide from a Josh Vela corner.
But West Brom might have been level on 29 minutes when Ahmed Hegazi headed just wide from a smart cross by Barnes.
They finally equalised thanks to a stunner by Barnes.
He exchanged passes on the edge of the penalty area before curling a superb left-footed shot past Alnwick and into the top corner.
And with 12 minutes to play the lively Matt Phillips let fly with a low cross-shot that crept inches past Alnwick’s far post.
But a minute from full-time the visitors snatched victory as a corner from Vela was flicked on by Wheater into a crowded goalmouth, where Wildschut was on hand to turn home.
Albion almost equalised again but Hegazi’s header from Chris Brunt’s corner thudded against the crossbar.
Boss Moore refused to discuss the futures of Newcastle target Salomon Rondon and wantaway defender Craig Dawson, who were both missing from his squad.
“It’s very difficult when you have a team unit like Bolton getting men behind the ball – it’s very difficult to break down,” said Moore. “The disappointing thing for us is the set play, you’re never happy to concede from set plays.
“In general we dominated the game but that doesn’t mean anything when you look at the scoreline.”