14th January 2006

 

Bolton County   (1) 3         Euxton Villa    (1) 1

                                         Martin

 

Villa's hopes of a good cup run came to an abrupt end against a side from a division below them, Euxton can have few complaints as once again they failed to turn their superiority into goals.

 

The visitors started well and with only a couple of minutes gone a good interchange of passes between Sam Shone and Damien Stewart set up a chance for Sam Shone, but his effort flew over the bar. A minute later Villa were rocked, they conceded a corner which seemed to have been dealt with,  the ball was cleared out to the right only to find the Bolton No 8, his first time shot flew into the top right hand corner of the goal giving Shaun Gibbs no chance.

 

This setback prompted Villa into action as they started to control the game , and put the home side under pressure. On 15 minutes a good run down the left by Guy Clarkson saw Bolton struggling to clear his cross. Two minutes later Anton Martin pushed down the left and his cross flew across the face of goal. A minute later Villa came even closer when Damien Stewart beat the offside trap, but his shot was just wide. Villa's pressure was forcing the home defence into mistakes, on 21 minutes a poor clearance fell to Guy Clarkson, but his effort was just wide of the post. The visitors continued to press for an equaliser and came close again after 26 minutes when Ross Dickinson had a header cleared off the line. They did have the ball in the net on the half hour, but Anton Martins effort was ruled offside. Villa increased the pressure further and it seemed only to be a matter of time before they scored, as efforts from Sam Shone, Mick Bradshaw, and John Winstanley all came close. The goal finally came right on the stroke of half-time when Sam Shone put Anton Martin through to beat the keeper. Villa could have gone ahead in injury time when Anton Martin forced the Bolton keeper to save.

 

The second half started as the first had finished with Villa pressing. Within a minute they hit the woodwork when Anton Martin had a lob tipped onto the crossbar,  this was followed up by a Guy Clarkson effort which the Bolton keeper saved with his feet. It seemed that Villa would soon turn their pressure into goals, unfortunately things went badly wrong after 65 minutes when the Villa defence lost possession on the edge of their area allowing the Bolton left winger an easy opportunity to put his side back into the lead. Villa continued to have the majority of the play and on 70 minutes John Winstanley's determined run created an opportunity for Sam Shone but the shot was saved.

 

With Villa pushing men forward they risked being caught on the break, and on 72 minutes this happened as the Bolton No 7 found himself free, he found the net with a curling shot into the top corner. Villa now pushed everyone forward and both Liam Conway and Matthew Atherton came close, but Bolton held out to take the tie. Villa can have few complaints as the game was there to be won, however a major plus was the improving form of Anton Martin who had an outstanding game.

 

Team    -  Gibbs, C. Chambers, Dickinson, O'Loughlin, Winstanley, Stewart, ( L. Conway ) Bradshaw, Broadbent, ( Atherton ) Shone, Clarkson, Martin.

Not used    -  Baker