Friday 15 July 2011

Rowdies vs. Bolton Wanderers (Exhibition Game)

Rowdies 1 vs. Bolton Wanderers 0
The Rowdies knocked off the English Premier League's Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Thursday night at Al Lang Stadium. The Rowdies scored in the second half on a goal by forward Matt Clare in the 65th minute.
 The performance was especially impressive for the Rowdies considering it played without several starters, including injured midfielders Chad Burt, Takuya Yamada and Tsuyoshi Yoshitake. In addition, the Rowdies was forced to play an unsigned trialist and defender Justin Morrow played 38 minutes after landing in Tampa less than 12 hours before the match.
 "I hope that match gives our team the world of confidence, and that starts collectively with hard work and application," said head coach Ricky Hill. "Tonight was a great opportunity for our team. To win the game is a great bonus. We're indebted to our goalkeepers at times. Evan was tremendous this evening and Jeff likewise."
 The match was the first-ever international friendly at home for the Rowdies and marked the first match in a three-game preseason tour for Bolton here in the United States.
 "We knew it would be demanding physically," said Bolton manager Owen Coyle. "Tampa Bay scored a very good goal. Credit to them. I thought they worked their socks off. I felt the game was played in the right spirit, the right atmosphere."
 During a scoreless first half, the pace of the match seemed to waver between long crosses and few attempts on the goal. The Wanderers stepped up the tempo of play in the second half and the Rowdies picked up the pace as well.
 Hill brought midfielder Pascal Millien on as a substitute in the 62nd minute and the move paid immediate dividends as he assisted on Clare's goal with a cross to the forward.
 Rookie goalkeeper Jeff Attinella shut out Bolton in the first half before being replaced by Evan Newton for the final 45 minutes, with Newton making several big stops to preserve the victory. Newton had six saves in his first action for the Rowdies.
 "Obviously I hope we gave them our best," said Attinella. "We definitely wanted to come out here and play hard. I feel like we played well, tested them and held our own for the most part. Hopefully a game like this gains some respect for the NASL. We can compete with teams and I think we just proved it tonight."

Lineups:
Rowdies Lineup: Attinella (Newton 45'), Sanfilippo (Captain), Arango, Watson-Siriboe (Morrow 62'), Rodrigues, Hill (Millien 62'), Gyorio, Savage, Hayes, Ambersley (Goodluck 83'), King (Clare 62')
Bolton Wanderers Lineup: Jaaskelainen (Bogdan 45'), Steinsson (Connolly 74'), Robinson (Alonso 45'), Cahill, Knight (Wheater 45'), Taylor (Petrov 45'), Davies (Gardner 45'), Pratley (Muamba 45'), Lee (Obadeyi 74'), Davies - Captain (Eaves 74'), Klasnic (Blake 45')

Scoring Summary:
Rowdies: Matt Clare - 65th minute (assisted by Pascal Millien)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The game was played on THURSDAY July 14, Not Friday July 15. I was there.

TB Rowdie said...

Thanks for your comment, I posted the report the day after the game.