Defeat away to Bolton means we bow out of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy
An incredibly open start to the cup tie which saw the Valiants threaten to open the scoring inside five minutes. Ryan Loft got his head to a cross from the wide area but the forward’s effort had a little too much on it as it floated over the bar.
Bolton responded two minutes later through Dion Charles who got free on the right hand side of the area but his strike didn’t trouble Jayson Leutwiler as it flew wide of the post.
However, on nine minutes Charles simply couldn’t miss with his next attempt as he gave the home side the lead. Charles and Kyle Dempsey ran through on goal in a two on one situation against Leutwiler as the latter squared the ball for Charles who tapped the ball home.
Charles came again one minute later but his curling shot from 25 yards out was well held by the Vale keeper.
The second 45 began with a flurry of efforts from Uche Ikpeazu. His first displayed the forward’s strength as he held off his man to get a powerful shot away which was saved by Joel Coleman. He then tested the Bolton keeper on 52 minutes with his head following a Jesse Debrah long throw but Coleman did extremely well to palm the ball over the bar.
Despite that pressure the hosts doubled their lead on 64 minutes through Carlos Mendes Gomes who finished off a nice passing move by placing the ball past Leutwiler from inside the box.
Five minutes later Charles came close to doubling his tally as a loose ball fell to his feet in the area, but he dragged his shot wide of the right hand post.
Bolton were then awarded a penalty on 86 minutes as Cameron Jerome was deemed to have been fouled in the area. Dan Nlundulu stepped up and converted the penalty however referee Matt Corlett demanded the penalty to be taken again. Nlundulu aimed the ball towards the same corner but this time Leutwiler was up to the challenge and kept out the spot kick before Lewis Cass cleared Nlundulu’s rebound off the line.
Bolton Wanderers | Joel Coleman, Jack Iredale, Dion Charles (72’ Cameron Jerome), Josh Dacres-Cogley, Victor Adeboyejo (72’ Dan Nlundulu), Will Forrester, Aaron Morley (46’ Josh Sheehan), Eoin Toal, Paris Maghoma (46’ George Thomason), Kyle Dempsey (46’ Carlos Mendes Gomes), Zac Ashworth
Unused Subs | Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Randell Williams
Port Vale | Jayson Leutwiler, Kofi Balmer (60’ Lewis Cass), Ryan Loft (69’ Baylee Dipepa), Ethan Chislett, Uche Ikpeazu (69’ Ben Garrity), Conor Grant (46’ Jack Shorrock), Alex Iacovitti, Gavin Massey (69’ Ben Lomax), Tom Conlon, Rhys Walters, Jesse Debrah
Unused Subs | Connor Ripley, Funso Ojo