Bolton 2-1 Newcastle
Klasnic puts sword to opening day win!
Klasnic and Mark Davies celebrate late strike
As the new season dawned on the Reebok stadium many felt that this was going to be an interesting first game of the season. With Bolton no longer playing 'hoof' ball under Coyle and Jim Jefferies the new man at the helm for Newcastle, it was all to play for.
But like history would suggest, Newcastle were paid a visit by their oldest friend, Mr.consistency. After having a fantastic pre-season which seen new boys Maikon Leite and Neymar score a few, they started vert poorly.
Bolton dominated the opening stages and even created a few chances. The first came when Martin Petrov robbed James Perch on the wing and cut inside. Initially the fans were holding their breath for a strike from the Bulgarian but he instead slid a cracking through ball into the path of Johan Elmander. The Sweede however missed the chance to grab his side the lead and stuck the ball wide of the goal from 6 yards out. Coyle came charging from the touchline to scream at his forward, it was a poor finish indeed.
And the finishing didn't get any better. Keven Davies had a good chance but squandered a header from 7 yards. After a great cross from Petrov again, Davies found himself above Williamson and heading towards goal. His shot though was stopped by Newcastle keeper Steve Harper.
Things didn't look good for Newcastle. This was summed up when Ben Arfa dribbled towards the goal. He slid a pass to Maikon Leite who then progressed towards goal. With the away section anticipating a goal from the Brazilian, he in turn slid it to Neymar. As the youngster ran towards the ball, he immdiately pulled up and fell to the ground in great despair. Sportingly Gary Cahill removed the ball from open play and allowed Neymar to recieve apporiate treatment. He was sadly then carried off and was replaced by youngster Phil Airey.
But finally Bolton grabbed a deserved lead. After a good one-two between Petrov and Elmander, the Bulgarian progessed into swinging the ball into the middle. A routine clearance became a problem when Jose Enrique totally misjudged the flight of the ball and missed his header. The ball fell kindly the the skipper Davies' feet. He replied with grace and poise, not typical from Davies but nonetheless placed the ball well out of Harper's reach and into the bottom left corner. 24 minutes in and finally a goal was no doubt the fans reaction.
Although it then appeared that the goal in which they had conceaded had sparked new life into the Geordie outfit. Short and quick passing in the midfield was greeted with pleasure by a fast thinking and moving attacking line. The chances came. The first was for youngster Phil Airey who made a hash of some wondeful Joey Barton play. The newly appointed captain found himself driving at the Bolton defence. With Airey in yards of space, Barton proceded to slip the ball to him. One on one with Jussi Jääskeläinen. In a battle of whits, the keeper provailed and the young prospect bottled under the pressure.
Not to worry. A few moments later Tiote gathered the ball and played it to Ben Arfa. On the spin, the Frenchman struck the ball from 25-30 yards out. It struck Muamba and made its way out for a corner. The away support cheered and clapped furiously to try and spur on their team. It worked. Ben Arfa whipped an in-swinging cross in which was met by the head of MIke Williamson. He simply held a finger to his lips to the home support as his teammates grabbed him from all directions.
'Goal meant nothing due to loss.'
- Mike Williamson
The game stayed stale for large patches of the game. No team could grab a hold of play whilst also trying to knock the ball around and pass it. It was in the end, a cruel way to lose. An 89th minute strike from the Croatian Ivan Klasnic which handed Bolton all 3 points on the opening day. Mark Davies had gathered the ball on the half way line and progessed forward. He played it out wide to Petrov who then started to run at Perch. After a deflected cross found the feet of Klasnic on the edge of the box, the striker clearly had one thing on his mind. He swiveled, he struck, he scored. A devastating left footed striker thunderbolted itself into the top right hand corner.
Coyle said a fair result would have been a draw whilst Jefferies admitted he was disappointed and worried about the injur Neymar had suffered. WHat are your views on the match, here at BBC football we're always interested to here. You can email us at [email protected] or you can text us 'NEWCASTLE' or 'BOLTON' followed by 'YOUR NAME' then your message to 85555.
Last edited by reporter Craig Todd
14/08/10
Reebok Stadium
, Hope this story lasts its shaping up to be a good one kiu 
