Fleetwood Town ended 2023 with a defeat as high-flying Bolton Wanderers picked up all three points on the road for the second time in as many games.
Town were beaten 2-0 at Highbury Stadium on Friday night with goals from Dion Charles early in the second period and then Victor Adeboyejo scored late on in the second half to give the visitors three vital points in their push for promotion.
It was a peculiar opening 20 minutes as the wind and rain played havoc, which meant neither side could get the ball down and play despite the efforts of both teams.
There wasn’t too much goal-mouth action that followed. The visitors’ efforts had the force of the wind behind it as Randell Williams’ strike stung the palms of Jay Lynch - Wanderers then came again, a common theme in the first half as Josh Sheehan’s effort was again kept out by Town’s goalkeeper.
In the second half, it was Ian Evatt's side who opened the scoring just five minutes into the second period as Charles managed to shrug off Town’s pressure inside the penalty area, which then saw his effort nestled into the bottom left corner.
On the hour mark, Phoenix Patterson managed to work half a yard down the left-hand side as he combined well with Josh Earl to get into the final third, the former laid the ball off to Callum Dolan whose effort didn’t trouble Nathan Baxter between the sticks.
Chances were at a premium in the second half with neither side testing the opposition keeper until seven minutes to go as Kyle Dempsey’s ball across the box was dummied by Charles and Adeboyejo found the back of the net from close range.
Lee Johnson's side pushed and pushed with more attacking players were brought into the fray, however the Trotters stood firm and saw out the game to make it three wins on the bounce to end the year on a high.
Town will now travel to Shrewsbury on New Year's Day, with supporters able to buy tickets in-store on Saturday and online HERE!
Town XI: Lynch (GK), Wiredu, Lawal, Vela (C), Stockley, Quitirna (Tshimanga 45’), Heneghan, Dolan (Asamoah 80’), Teale (Marriott 74’), Earl, Patterson.
Unused subs: McMullan (GK), Johnson, Holgate, Hayes.
Bolton XI: Baxter (GK), Jones, Thomason, Almeida Santos (C), Sheehan (Adeboyejo 73’) Bodvarsson (Morley 73’) Charles (Jerome 86’), Dacres-Cogley, Toal, Dempsey, Williams (Ashworth 90’).
Unused subs: Coleman (GK), Forrester, Maghoma.