Klasnic rolls away after finishing the performance
And the Whites go marching on, on, on through their preseason with an impressive showing against Bradford City AFC at Valley Parade in front of 295 Wanderers supporters among the 2,943 in attendance. The 4-1 scoreline provided Bolton with their third consecutive win this preseason.
Having just stepped off the plane on Friday after finishing a successful US tour, Bolton were back on the pitch just two days later with Coyle taking the opportunity to showcase some new talent. Mark Connelly was given a full 90 minutes to prove himself but it was the man in midfield, Darren Pratley, making a name a name for himself. After runnimg onto a ball from Gretar Steinsson, Pratley was brought down in the box by goalkeeper Mark Howard and the referee pointed to the spot. Petrov coolly slotted low to give the Trotters the lead. Pratley then doubled the advantage with about 30 minutes left in the match. Old man Robbie Blake (who, admittedly, hasn't looked terrible this preseason) did well to possess the ball in the box before finding Prat who easily finished from ten yards out with a deserved goal.
Bradford were not keen to just sit back and take it as they would pull one back minutes later through the fresh substitute Nialle Rodney. After some fancy footwork just outside the box, Rodney tucked the ball past Bogdan and into the corner. After a glimmer of hope for Bradford, Bolton said "no more" and decided to close out the match. The third goal came from Kevin Davies who deftly lobbed it over Howard just inside the box. Number four, the final goal of the match, was put away by Klasnic after recieving a pass from Petrov. The Croatian did will from a tight angle just 5 or 6 yards out.
The mighty Wanderers next travel to Gigg Lane to face Bury on Wednesday before facing Newport County on Sunday. Let's keep the streak going, eh?