Leicester City 1 Bolton Wanderers 1

Last updated : 11 February 2004 By Mark Heys
An freak own goal by Leicester City goalkeeper Ian Walker was enough to give Wanderers a share of the spoils during a drab televised encounter at the Walkers Stadium.

The England goalkeeper saw the ball squirm under his body during the 32 minute following what seemed to be a simple collection following a shot by the Bolton striker Kevin Davies, however the Foxes where up in arms with referee Uraiah Rennie as they felt that Wanderers midfielder Kevin Nolan was in an offside position but the somewhat new and confusing offside laws meant that the goal was allowed to stand.

It was a game of few clear cut chances which began at a very slow tempo. On four minutes Youri Djorkaeff was denied at close range by Walker whilst at the other end home debutant Steffen Freund went close with a dipping volley which sailed over the bar of the Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

On the quarter hour mark Leicester took the lead through Les Ferdinand. Defender Riccardo Scimeca whipped a free kick into the area from the right hand side and the ball was headed goalwards by Ferdinand who made sure the second time around after Jaaskelainen had spilled his initial effort.

A quarter of an hour later and Bolton where level thanks to Walker's blunder which had left both sides bemused as to the state of play with the offside rules however the officials including referee Uraiah Rennie gave Bolton the goal much to the surprise of Kevin Davies who had seen his rather tame effort squirm under the former Spurs keeper Walker.

Leicester brought on James Scowcroft for Marcus Bent shortly before half time in a bid to add more balance to the side however it was perhaps best that both sides went in at the interval for a half time pep talk.

Wanderers improved slightly in the second half but looked a shadow of the side which had matched local rivals Liverpool a few days before. Leicester on the other hand will bemoan the fact that they didn't hold onto the lead and that a costly error gifted Bolton a share of the points.

Paul Dickov had an early chance in the second half for Leicester but the overhead kick by the Scottish international was easily collected by Jaaskelainen as the striker could not put enough power behind the ball.

Then Youri Djorkaeff's weak chip was comfortably collected by the Leicester goalkeeper Walker and a few minutes later a free kick for Bolton found its way to Davies and once again the offside rule caused confusion for the home side who where looking to the Assistant Referees to blow up for offside on the Wanderers front line, however this was not forthcoming and both managers Sam Allardyce and Micky Adams as well as the SKY Sports Panel of Richard Keys, Andy Gray, Martin Tyler and Gary McAllister all felt that the new rules may need to be looked at once more by FIFA.

The game itself ended in a quiet fashion with neither side really imposing themself on the game, a useful point for Bolton considering they hadn't played their best whilst for Leicester they will lament not getting the win.

Before Wanderers home clash with Manchester City a week on Saturday the Wanderers will now take a rest in the sunny climes of Dubai. Sam Allardyce is taking the whole of his squad to the Emirates country for a well earned rest ahead of their forcoming final against Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup.

Alright for some......postcard from the not so sunny Bolton