Gaffer’s buoyed by County’s character
NEW County boss Dave Challinor believes his side showed the character they need to be successful “in absolute spades”, as The Hatters forced League One Bolton Wanderers into a FA Cup first round replay.
County fought out a thrilling 2-2 draw at the UniBol Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In front of a record 5,110 away supporters, Challinor’s men took a surprise lead through striker Scott Quigley in the first half, before two quickfire Bolton goals had County on the ropes – only for Ben Whitfield to strike on the stroke of half-time and secure a televised Edgeley Park replay next midweek.
“I thought we were absolutely fantastic,” said Challinor.
“It was always going to be difficult, but I wanted to see what the players were about in the face of adversity – and they showed the characteristics to be successful in absolute spades.”
After Quigley had pounced on a poor backpass from midfielder George Thomason to slot home midway through the first half, forwards Eoin Doyle and Elias Kachunga struck in the space of ninety seconds to give Ian Evatt’s side the lead.
But The Hatters continued to press, with Paddy
Madden going close to levelling proceedings straight from kick-off following Kachunga’s strike, before Whitfield latched onto a well-worked
County move to stroke past Joel Dixon in firsthalf stoppage time.
“It was two sloppy goals for us to concede, but really great character to come back,” he said “We’re going to play in a certain way and be attacking, and I don’t think in the first half we were brave enough, certainly in defence. But the lads at the back bounced back superbly in the second half and I felt we were much more in control of the tie.”
Challinor had only overseen three training sessions after his highprofile move from Hartlepool United last week prior to the visit to Bolton on Sunday, with the former Fylde boss stating following his arrival that County would be playing “open, expansive football”.
And his side certainly did that, as Quigley again went close after the break to restoring County’s lead only for Dixon to smother the attempt – but Challinor believes the signs from his players were “really encouraging”.
“I’m not going to take any credit for the last few days of training,” he said. “We’ve worked on stuff off the ball, but it’s on the players in terms of their performance and they earned it.
“Some of the signs were really encouraging.
“Sunday doesn’t show it as we’ve had to dig in, but with the attackers on the pitch, we can challenge anyone.
“It’s easy to be positive when we’re winning, but the real test is in adversity. And that came when we went 2-1 down in the space of two minutes, so it’s a great reaction from the lads.”
Challinor’s first big call came with a starting spot for the returning Sam Minihan, after three months on the sidelines through a knee injury which had required surgery.
Minihan managed an hour, with versatile midfielder Will Collar replacing the popular County full-back for the remainder – but, whilst Minihan showed positive signs on his road to recovery, Challinor did admit a worry about goalscorer Ben Whitfield, who was unable to continue after his equaliser.
“Sam was desperate to play. I asked him how long he had in him, and he probably would have said the full game!
“But he’s a fit lad, and it was a big call but he was superb. Will Collar also did really well when he came on in that unfamiliar position.
‘The players showed the character to be successful in absolute spades’