Bolton 1-0 Birmingham MOTM: Sammy Ameobi

In a game where Bolton did not play that well, defended resolutely but gave the ball away too cheaply, MOTM was not going to be easy. Up until Parky made a double substitution in the 62 minute, I’d narrowed it down to one of Olkowski, Wheater or Taylor for their immense defensive performances.

However, when the disappointing Wildschut and Noone were replaced by Buckley and Ameobi respectively, Bolton’s game instantly turned from backs to the wall defending to supercharged attack. Buckley had a great half hour but it was Ameobi who was the real talisman. His first touch, a pacy dribble, put the Brum central midfield duo of Kieftenbeld and Gardner immediately on the back foot.

What followed was an eleven minute Bolton blitzkrieg with Ameobi leading the charge. The lead up to the Bolton goal was pure quality. Ameobi did a cross field pinpoint pass finding Taylor in space. Taylor then cantered up to the byline and returned another beauty of a pass back to Ameobi, who was now on his own on the other side of the penalty box after a cracking run. Ameobi knocked it into the box, the Brum defence was AWOL and a double chest move from Buckley and then Magennis put the ball in the net. Our attacks soon petered our and all out defence was the name of the game for the last ten minutes, but Ameobi played his part and was a constant menace going forward.

A point from this game would have been creditable but thanks to Ameobi’s skill, we got three.