Police had a struggle on their hands as Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday fans clash with each other after the match on Saturday.
Most of the trouble came after the game with Greater Manchester Police and stewards condemned for not keeping fans inside to prevent trouble breaking out.
Instead, according to some who went to the League One clash, both teams’ supporters were let out at the same time come the full time whistle.
So @GMP seriously messed up yesterday @AndyBurnhamGM
Wednesday fans started attacking Bolton fans after the game.
Why were 5,200 Wednesday fans allowed to mix with our fans?
Last week we had to stay behind inside the ground at Wigan.#BWFC pic.twitter.com/2H8vUrofBs
— STEVE HILTON (@SteveHiltonCEO) April 10, 2022
The game itself saw MJ Williams grab an equaliser in the 90th minute to help Bolton secured a 1-1 third tier draw with top-six contenders Sheffield Wednesday.
Darren Moore’s side dominated for long periods, and could have scored more than just Jordan Storey’s 66th-minute goal.
However Bolton have a habit of getting a goal in the closing stages and Williams was on hand with leveller, getting his team’s 23rd goal in the final 15 minutes of action this season.
On-loan Preston defender Storey also got his first goal for his current club, converted from close range after Sam Hutchinson headed Barry Bannan’s corner against the post.
Sheffield Wednesday should have gone on to get a third successive win against Bolton, who have won once in their past six games to see their playoff hopes fade.
Bannan, who was named League One player of the month for March, had three opportunities in the opening 12 minutes and should have doubled his side’s lead 14 minutes from time.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing also missed a great first-half opportunity, and Bolton themselves could have taken the lead through Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s first-half header.
But it was Williams who punished Owls for failing to make the most of their chances to win the game, making it 1-1 and keeping the packed out away end quiet.
Some however couldn’t contain their frustration after throwing away the lead late on and that led to police with a struggle on their hands as Bolton and Sheffield Wednesday fans clash with each other.
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SEE MORE: Fan left bloodied as goading and fighting takes place at AFC Wimbledon v MK Dons
Ian Evatt said after the game that he wants up a top-10 finish before going on to challenge the League One leadership next season.
“Scoring late is a good habit to have. I thought MJ was excellent and I’m very pleased for him to get that goal,” said the Wanderers’ boss.
“We rode our luck at times but considering we haven’t got an awful to play for, the amount of injuries we’ve had and some illness in camp, to show that fight and willingness to get themselves back in the game is credit to them.
“They (Wednesday) were clearly desperate to win. All the teams we have played in this past week have had something to play for.
“But these lads never know when they’re beat and it’s never a bad habit to get into, to score so many late goals.
“We are competitive against the top teams. We’ve come a long, long way but it’s our aim and ambition to get ahead of them and become a team everyone wants to beat and be the best team in this division.
“We know we’ve still got work to do. We need to learn and improve and we have another window coming up where we can strengthen again. But there are positive signs out there.”
“We need to be professional from now until the end of the season,” added Evatt. “We need to find a way to get four results and then we can re-group and go again next season.
“We want to finish as strongly as we can. We want to be in that top 10, that’s our aim.
“So we will try and win all four games and see where that takes us.”
On two points dropped, Darren Moore said: “Of course it does, it can’t feel like anything else. We were dominant today, it was a dominant performance. We created enough chances to win two football matches but we didn’t take them and that’s cost us. Credit to Bolton for never giving up and going to the end but we shouldn’t have allowed that to happen, we should’ve put the game to bed. So yes, it feels like two points dropped, but we move on, it’s another game gone, we are still in there and there is a lot of football still to be played.”
On Storey: “Jordan has done what it says on the tin since he has been here, he has defended his goal and his lines. So to see him score and celebrate with the 5,000 Wednesdayites was very pleasing. He’s had a hard week personally but I’ve kept a close eye on him in training this week and he was ready to come back into the team. I’ve been really impressed with Jordan since he came to Sheffield Wednesday and today would’ve been the icing on the cake for him.”
Moore on set pieces: “We’ve scored from one set piece today and conceded from one set piece today so we know what we have to do better. I do think on this occasion we have been really unfortunate because it was a bit of pinball in our box, the ball has ricoched off one of our players and landed right in the path of their lad, who shoots and scores. That’s football sometimes, it can hurt you and today it has.”
On the away support: “I was disappointed for everyone at the end and not least the 5,000 fans who backed us magnificently today. We couldn’t have asked for anything more and unfortunately they will not be going home happy. But my message to them is that we will shake this disappointment off, we will dust ourselves down, and straight from Monday we focus on going to MK Dons next Saturday.”
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