Bolton’ Dapo Afolayan claims he was kicked by a Shrewsbury player in the flare up after the final whistle on Saturday afternoon.
Defender Chey Dunkley was the injury-time winner as Shrewsbury beat Bolton 3-2 after Steve Cotterill’s team trailed 2-1.
A Dion Charles double before Christian Saydee equalise 12 minutes after the conclusion of this see-saw contest.
Wanderers were held at bay by a few James Trafford saves until Dunkley scored the winning goal in the second minute.
Shrewsbury got off to a great start with Rob Street, a Crystal Palace loanee scoring his first goal for the club in just 87 seconds.
Charles, an international from Northern Ireland, scored his eighth goal of campaign after sweeping in Gethin’s pass after 12 minutes.
On the 71st minute, Dunkley was tripped by Dapo Afolayan. Charles narrowly defeated Marko Marosi.
Shrewsbury weren’t done, and Saydee scored his third goal of this season before Dunkley. This earned them their first home league victory over Bolton since 1983. His goal came just two minutes into the added time.
The result means Salop are 10th in the League One table, with 29 points from 21 games played while Bolton are 5th with 32 points from 20 games.
The Bolton striker made a complaint to referee Craig Hinks as the two sides walked off the pitch and had to be held back from retaliating as he walked back down the tunnel.
Ian Evatt explained the situation on Saturday evening but admitted he did not believe the situation would amount to anything.
“He said he had been kicked by one of their players,” said the Bolton boss.
“We always want to be gracious in victory and defeat and, for me, there were some comments flying around at the end that were inappropriate.
“Dapo says he has been kicked, so we will see. But I said to the players I don’t want to see them scrapping after the final whistle, getting involved in tunnel discussions, because it is just nonsense.
“Nothing ever happens. It is always just words, verbals, airy-fairy pushing and shoving, and I don’t want to see it. I want my team to fight on the pitch in the right way and we lost that fight in the last 10 minutes of the game.”
“Everything we speak about, everything we are trying to do, just went out of the window,” he added on the game.
“I don’t know why we try to take a free kick when we can easily play into territory and gain some momentum.
“We give it back to Traff, which invites their press, kick it long which is exactly what they wanted us to do, and they score.
“But to be fair the reaction was excellent after that. Following that first minute the 74 that followed were pretty good. We were in control.
“We had a really tough week but that hurt because we should have won it.”
Manager Steve Cotterill praised the character of his players following Shrewsbury’s win.
ON THE PERFORMANCE:
“(It was) a great game. Ding dong wasn’t it? Bolton are a good side, a really good side – we mustn’t overlook that.
“It’s a great win for us. They’re a good team, a very good team.
“Whilst scoring early is a pleasure, it’s great to score a late goal because Bolton are the kings of late goals.
“They’re something like fifth in the table but if you took results up to the 85th minute, they’d be 18th in the table, so for us to put it on them late on in the game was good.
“We talked about what we were going to do if we got our noses in front and how we would set up and the ‘what-if’ scenarios.
“I’m delighted with how the boys were today. They were fantastic, absolutely fantastic. They’ve got a great character, we’ve talked about that until the cows come home but it was there today for all to see.
“And that’s when you do want to see it. It’s all well and good if they’re happy all together in the canteen or on the training pitch, but it’s here when it counts, in the arena.
“I don’t think anyone has questioned them, but if anyone ever did I think that’s the answer today.
“We’re very lucky with the players we’ve got at this football club. Sometimes we don’t win but they’re always trying to win and I think they’re a credit to the football club, I really do.
“They’re all in and they’re great lads, that was a big win for us today.”
ON CHEY DUNKLEY’S GOAL:
“I don’t know how he jumped that high and headed it down, that was immense.
“That header was immense at the end. It’s not a surprise that came from him. He’s a huge guy, a huge character, his heart is massive, he gives his all to the team every single week.
Bolton Wanderers’ Dapo Afolayan’s claim against Shrewsbury Town star https://t.co/ekMjTtPSKy
— The Bolton News (@TheBoltonNews) December 11, 2022
ON THE STRIKERS GETTING THEIR GOALS:
“I’m absolutely delighted for the strikers today – for them two to score a goal today.
“How they have been for weeks now – they’ve not got their rewards so I’m really pleased for them.
“I fancied them today. I actually said before the game I fancied the pair of them to score.
“I was basing that on what they’ve been like this week. I just fancied them today.
“I think Rob needed it more than Christian. But I thought Christian today, his performance – he was incredible.
“Chey Dunkey, the header for his goal, was immense but I thought Christian Saydee’s performance today was top, top, draw.
“I think that was Christian Saydee’s best game for us today. I’m really pleased for all the lads. It was an incredible win today against a really good team.
“I like Bolton, I like them as a football club. I liked them when Sam Allardyce was there and they used to upset all the odds.
“And I think Ian (Evatt) is doing a really good job with them now. Their budget is probably three times ours. But it doesn’t matter, you have still got to use that budget wisely and I think he is doing a good job there.”
Fans reacted as Bolton’s Dapo Afolayan claims he was kicked by a Shrewsbury player in the flare up after the final whistle…
@OldManWinter999: Taking Dapo and Charles off when Shrewsbury couldn’t handle them was a dreadful decision.
@Hignog: Atrocious defending all game. Evatts got no idea how to set up a defence. Three years of shocking performances from set pieces. Move on now he’s done
@a_wanderas: I don’t care how little goals we have conceded, or where we are in the table, defensively we are shit against any kind of ball which is higher than 2 metres.
@JohnDRushbury: One of the grittiest determined team fight backs in 50 years of watching @shrewsburytown. An inspirational effort by every man, against an arrogant underhand @boltonfcnews – even outsing them “should have gone Xmas shopping “ lol 🙄😂😂😂😂
@jtravis007: Great win that, and a cracking team performance, lads showed great character, grit and determination to get the 3 points, especially after going behind, well earned win in the end #salop 🔷🔶
@RobHartshorn94: @Jamestrafford6 just in case u didn’t know what the score was x p.s. hope the knee gets better soon looked a nasty 1 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@salop_sam: What a cracking result for @shrewsburytown …showed great determination to get the 3 points!! Great to see Dunks get the winner after conceding the penalty! Well done #Salop!!
@MarcPetty9: Absolutely SENSATIONAL! 💥 A brilliant display full of grit, character and determination from the boys against good quality opposition. Best home win of the season. #Salop 🔷🔶
@JimTheWanderer1: Fair play to #Salop. Showed us up with how to be dogshit and still win. Not sure how but we managed to be worse than them. Didn’t deserve to be ahead at any point let alone get anything from it #bwfc
@LCBWFC92: Anyone notice the Shrewsbury players scuffing the penalty spot before Dixon’s penalty. We need to get more streetwise to this kind of shit and get players stood around it. #bwfc
@AnalysisShrews: That win tastes so, so, SO SWEET! The character, the grit, and against a team whose overall attitude, demeanour and arrogance stinks. Up the #salop! 😍💙🧡
@reece_scholes: What a load of shite, something needs to change because we’ve been fucking shit for a while now, all teams we should be beating and we’ve struggled every single match and not looked anything close to a team that wants promotion #bwfc
@Bwfc12341: Dapo and Charles absolutely brilliant today. Ran Shrewsbury to death. It’s an absolutely crime that Evatt dragged them both off and went for the more direct defensive mindset. Cost us that game imo. Frustrating beyond belief at the moment.
@emp_21x: How we are still in the top 6 I don’t know… some of the decisions Evatt is making with team selection (and substitutes today especially) is a joke and if we want to be a playoff team come the end of the season, it needs sorting and fast. #bwfc
@joeoldfield2000: Never usually one to hate on Evatt and still love the guy but that is on him today, we were dominating the game at 2-1 and Dapo was finding so much space. Changes and set pieces lost us the game, not good enough from Evatt at all #bwfc
@TheChrisMcKeown: Well , some made excuses before a ball was kicked , the truth is the starting 11 on paper was good , after another terrible start we found our feet and got ahead, but the defending was shocking after that, Lee and Sheehan off pace and for me the wrong subs where made taking charles and dapo off was a mistake (unless injured) we lost our flow and if anything needed more steel in midfield.. make no mistake this a huge loss and if we are to push for the PO spots,then the january window cant come quick enough, investment will be needed. #bwfc
Should have gone shopping #bwfc
😂😂😂😂#salop pic.twitter.com/hzl5knMrVl
— Salopcast (@salopcast) December 10, 2022
WHAT A WWWIIIINNNN!!!!!
Amazing finale and typical of this never say die #salop side.
The team spirit is electric and this is brilliant victory over Bolton.
STEVE COTTERILL’S BARMY ARMY@BBCShropSport
🔵🟠🔵🟠🔵🟠🔵🟠🔵🟠🔵🟠 pic.twitter.com/aWt7Z79PSq
— Nick Southall (@FootieNick) December 10, 2022
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