Chorley 1-3 Bolton Wanderers: Marc Iles's Match Verdict

Bolton never looked like losing this game against Chorley. They led from the second minute and were only scored against in second-half stoppage time, and yet there was a vague sense of disappointment as the players squirmed through the maze of supporters and back into the dressing room at Victory Park.

The bar has been raised quickly in Ian Evatt’s two years in charge and while the margin of victory against Chorley was ample enough, aspects of the performance, particularly in the second half, were clearly not to the manager’s liking.

To what degree an awkward display could be attributed to a difficult playing surface is debatable.

Evatt never likes to be referred to as a ‘football snob’ despite his high principles on how the game should be played. After all, he pulled on a pair of boots in all four divisions of the Football League and managed at National League level during a successful spell with unfashionable Barrow. His was not a tone-deaf point about a non-league club not having the resources to create a playable pitch.

The Bolton boss merely pointed out that having agreed to make this a first team friendly, and swelling the attendance above 3,000, more of an effort could have been made to make the playing surface, well, playable.

In truth, Chorley’s pitch was a month away from being right. Talk among the players and staff after the game deduced that it had been re-seeded recently but yet to bed in sufficiently to cut the grass down to a suitable level.

One senior Wanderers player told me it was the longest grass on which he had ever played a game – but to be absolutely clear, there was no suggestion that the Chorley management had arranged this as some sort of ‘leveller’.

The pitch was simply not ready to play a first team fixture of this kind and, in truth, the 10-minute delay to kick-off to ease the snaking queues were just one of a few minor grumbles to surface on the day.

This fixture has been played for years, indeed Gethin Jones received the Harold Taylor Memorial Trophy from two of the late Chorley stalwart’s daughters. But in the past the game has been used exclusively as a reserve team outing and what a shame it would be if that were to resume.

Chorley’s case was not helped by the fact Longridge Town had shown such impressive organisation a few days earlier. The North West Counties club produced a good pitch, albeit one helped by the pre-match rain, and a neat and tidy event.

Evatt tried to deliver his post-match disappointment in a measured manner. Those who judge his success are unlikely to have shifted their pre-existing opinion either way, for that seems to the be the way of things at Bolton right now.

The manager is on a quest for higher standards than last season, and felt he got them on the training grounds in Portugal and Lostock since the players returned last month. The result at Longridge backed-up that view but some of the more laboured possession football, particularly in the second half at Chorley, suggests some of the hard work could be catching up with the players.

Not that there were any concerns when Dion Charles opened the scoring barely two minutes into the game on Saturday afternoon. A sweeping pass from George Johnston picked out Conor Bradley on the right, he nudged the ball inside to Aaron Morley who in turn found the Northern Ireland international to pass a shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The combination play between Gethin Jones, Morley and Bradley was one of the biggest positives Evatt could have taken from the opening 45 minutes. And the same pair combined for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson to head home a second just before half time.

In between, Wanderers fashioned a few other decent chances. Charles always looked a menace when the ball was played ahead of him, Adam Senior also thought he had scrambled a goal at one stage only to flagged for a foul.

At 2-0 there was scope for plenty more when a generally younger XI stepped on to the field in the second half. The reality could not have been more different.

Wanderers struggled to punctuate their opponents, now camped deep in their own penalty box, and quickly ran out of steam.

Possession became laboured, passes sloppy, and that long grass given more and more accusatory stares with each passing minute.

Had the second-half side scored a couple and matched the performance of those in the first, perhaps the pitch would have been less of a discussion point. But frustration was etched on Evatt’s face as he bellowed out for his players to move the ball faster.

The match referee did not help matters by deflecting a pass destined to send Kieran Sadlier through on the right for a rare foray on goal. As the official pulled the play back to halfway and apologised, the mood on Bolton’s bench was not so forgiving.

There have been plenty of recent occasions under previous managers where Wanderers have turned up on occasions like this, gone through the motions, earned a result and gone home.

And though friendlies are still no more than an extended training session, in the grand scheme, Evatt and his staff have created an environment where any lapse in standard will be called out.

Elias Kachunga’s late header from Sadlier’s corner at least got the second-half team on the scoreboard. Getting into the habit of scoring from set pieces is something we would all love to see this summer.

But as if to underline the sloppiness, Ricardo Santos allowed himself to be turned by former Wanderers striker Connor Hall, who slipped a shot under Joel Dixon to pull a goal back in stoppage time.

Fans crowded around the tunnel and exits to ensure they got their selfies and autographs – few of them particularly concerned that the game had not gone entirely according to plan.

Players obliged, but they knew by Monday morning there will be a few reminders heading their way before Tuesday’s game against Stockport County.