TROTTERS AVOID THEIR KRYPTONITE
IAN Evatt was delighted with his Bolton side’s performance in a win over Gillingham at Priestfield – his ninth victory in 12 games.
Aaron Morley, Declan John and Jón Dadi Bödvarsson punished a lacklustre Gillingham, who went down to ten men on the hour mark when Daniel Phillips was sent off for a second yellow card.
Evatt, whose side now sit in 11th place in the League One table, believed his side could have scored even more and was very encouraged by his side’s performance.
He said: “I thought we were excellent from start to finish. The only slight disappointment is that we could have scored a lot more.
“We dominated the game; we controlled the ball like I want us to do and three-nil probably flattered Gillingham today, which says a lot.
“Gillingham have been doing really well; Neil [Harris] has got them organised and they’ve had some excellent results since he took over.
“This is a really difficult place to come and, as I said in the week, these games have been our kryptonite this season.”
In a first half dominated by the visitors, Dion Charles fired over the bar having been brilliantly played through by Oladapo Afolayan after 12 minutes.
He then missed a gilt-edged chance from 12 yards after the ball fortuitously deflected into his path.
Bolton took the lead shortly after the half-hour mark when January signing Morley met Marlon Fossey’s cutback and curled spectacularly into the top corner for his first Wanderers goal.
The start of the second half was delayed by four minutes because of a medical emergency involving a member of the stadium’s security team. Dismal Gillingham were then forced to play the final third of the game with ten men after midfielder Phillips picked up two bookings in four minutes – the second coming when he needlessly fouled Afolayan on half-way.
Bolton quickly made their numerical advantage count as John blazed home their second after 65 minutes when Gills goalkeeper Aaron Chapman could only parry Bödvarsson’s effort.
QPR loanee Conor Masterson had Gillingham’s only shot on target – a tame header straight at goalkeeper James Trafford, before Bödvarsson curled in Bolton’s third late. Gillingham manager Neil Harris agreed with Evatt that the right team won and, although his side were on the end of a heavy defeat, he was not too worried. He said: “I wouldn’t say the scoreline is harsh on us today. I thought our levels were slightly off and I’ll have to look into that.”