Match Report: Bolton Wanderers 2 AFC Bournemouth 2

Dougie Freedman made four changes to the side which started at Portman Road last week. Adam Bogdan, Chris Eagles, Chung-Yong Lee and Liam Trotter came into the starting XI, replacing Andy Lonergan, Darren Pratley, Neil Danns and Medo Kamara. This was a more attacking line-up as Freedman included only one defensive midfielder and 2 genuine wingers for a change.

The first half started brightly as the Mighty Bolton Wanderers looked in the mood, stringing together a few nice passes and consequently dominating the early possession. Despite this dominance the first chance of the game fell to the visitors on the 18^th minute. After Bolton's defence played an unsuccessful offside trap Lewis Grabban was in 1-on-1 against Adam Bogdan. The Hungarian international cleverly stood Grabban up before scooping the ball away and saving the defence's blushes.

The Trotters broke the deadlock 2 minutes later thanks to Chung-Yong Lee. He cleverly exchanged a few passes with Mark Davies, who put through a pinpoint ball to the feet of the winger, leaving Lee with the simple task of firing home. The Korean international kept his composure as he finished into Camp's far corner.

This goal only had a positive impact on the team as they grew in confidence and started to be more expressive. Twelve minutes later Middlesbrough loanee Lukas Jutkiewicz doubled the score. A hopeful punt from Zat Knight was brilliantly controlled by Jutkiewicz as he caught Lee Camp off guard with a superb effort from long range. This was a spectacular way for the former Coventry City striker to open his Wanderers account.

Normality was restored 60 seconds later as the visitors got one back in rather controversial circumstances. After what looked like a nasty collision Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter lay on the floor with a head injury. Expecting the Cherries to knock the ball out the whole Bolton defence stood and watched Grabban pick his spot from 35 yards out, leaving Bogdan without a chance.

Up to that point things weren't going too badly. There was a positive atmosphere around the Reebok and we were playing some decent football, but after the break that all changed. I don't know whether we were complacent or whether 'we need stronger characters' but the second half was awful. The re-energized and confident Cherries surged forward and tested Adam Bogdan on several occasions. In his first game back from injury Bogdan looked sharp and would have been up there with Jutkiewicz for man of the match.

The inevitable happened on the 66^th minute as Ian Harte swung in a corner which was met by Simon Francis. The header squirmed through the legs of Adam Bogdan and sent the sparse away support into celebration. In spite of a late Bolton push the score didn't change, prompting certain sections of the home support to boo and even chant Freedman out. Should he go? Or should he stay?

One notable objection from the fans was for Freedman's decision to bring Mark Davies off in the second half. Davies was having a relatively good game and the decision to bring on Medo prompted some jeers directed at the manager. In the end his decision to bring on another defensive midfielder backfired as the Wanderers conceded again and then failed to create any chances to score. In response to the criticism Freedman defended his actions stating that, 'The player was feeling some discomfort.' Either way it's more crucial points dropped at home and even more pressure on Freedman.

In our perilous position games at home (especially against a side that was in League 1 last year) must be won. Squandering a two goal lead is simply not good enough. The only positives from the game were Bogdan and Jutkiewicz's performances. Debutante Liam Trotter didn't have the best of games as the only thing he seemed to do was continuously gift possession back to AFC Bournemouth.

This result leaves us 19^th in the table and now 5 points off the relegation zone with the majority of them having a game in hand. We're now without a win in our last 7 league games and are second to bottom in the form table. Things aren't in good shape for Tuesday's game as we host high-flying Burnley FC at the Reebok Stadium. After their win at home over Millwall they're 2^nd in the league and looking good. It's going to take a very strong performance to get anything out of the game.

This is what Freedman had to say to the club's official website,

"There's no use trying to hide it, we're very disappointed with the result.''

"We feel like we've dropped two points today, but we have got to stick together and ensure that we keep battling away.

"Individually, there were some very good performances from our boys out there today. I thought Adam Bogdan pulled off some great saves on his return to the side.

"Lukas Jukiewicz scored a great goal and worked very hard up front and when Medo came on he got into some very good areas.

"We've shown that we have got goals in us. We just need to make sure that instead of performing for patches of the game, that we're right at it for the full 95 minutes."