MADINE DOUBLE CLEARS DANGER
Bolton win puts Tykes in trouble
GARY Madine’s double helped fire Bolton out of the Championship drop zone at the expense of stuttering Barnsley.
The hosts notched only their third victory of the season, but it was a fully deserved one against a Tykes outfit who have now lost four on the spin.
Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Friday, was delighted with the ‘bouncebackability’ shown by his team, who responded perfectly to a midweek mauling at Wolves.
“All the lads showed terrific character,” he said. “We had been frustrated after the loss at Wolves and having thrown away a two-goal lead the last time we were here, to win in style like this is very pleasing.
“We stood strong against a good Barnsley side, and this should provide everyone with a huge boost. We can start to build a bit of momentum now.”
Parkinson added that firing themselves out of the bottom three should give everyone at Bolton a lift.
“It’s a good feeling, definitely,” he said. “We looked like creating and we looked like scoring a few more goals.
“I’m delighted the players have bounced back so well. We spoke about the Wolves defeat at length, and training has been good all week since then.”
After a dismal opening 20 minutes the game burst into life at a rather subdued Macron Stadium.
The Trotters opened the scoring when Mark Little scorched purposefully down the right flank before crossing in for Gary Madine, who slid in to convert from close range.
The Tykes were swiftly back on terms, however. Tom Bradshaw was upended in the Bolton box by Reece Burke, and referee Oliver Langford pointed straight to the spot.
Barnsley’s leading scorer hopped off the deck before slotting home his tenth goal of the season past Ben Alnwick.
Bolton restored their lead before the break, also from the spot. Madine did the business after Liam Lindsay had tripped Will Buckley.
Bolton’s victory was wrapped up with 20 minutes to go. Mark Little scorched down the right flank, leaving Andy Yiadom trailing in his wake, before drilling low past Tykes keeper Adam Davies.
Within a minute it was almost 4-1. Substitute Adam Armstrong fired in a cracking strike which clipped the outside of a post.
Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom aimed a swipe at some disappointing defending from his team which has left them looking over their shoulders at the drop zone.
“We got what we deserved for some really poor defending,” said the Tykes boss. “All three of the goals were shocking from our point of view.
“They were all terrible, and that’s the most disappointing thing for me. We work hard all week in training and I can’t fault the lads for effort, but we’ve been punished at the back while we were also wasteful going forward.
“We were naive at both ends and that’s a problem we’ve got to pay a lot of attention to.
“The confidence won’t be affected. Some of these young lads are still finding their way in the Championship, but we’ve got to put the hard yards in if we’re going to get ourselves out of this little rut.
“We know we’ve got enough in the squad to get results. We’ve proved that often enough this season.”