Adebayo Akinfenwa batters Bolton

28.08.2008

Adebayo Akinfenwa, the Northampton forward, overcame leg and head injuries to produce a heroic two-goal performance that sent English Premiership side, Bolton Wanderers crashing out of the Carling Cup at the Reebok Stadium Tuesday night.

Akinfenwa, a 10-club journeyman whose career path brought him to Northampton via Lithuania, Barry Town and seven other Football League teams, won the game for the League One side in the space of seven first-half minutes. Yet manager Stuart Gray admitted that Akinfenwa was lucky to be on the pitch at all.

Gray said: "Bayo really bullied Bolton's defenders and I'm proud of his performance because he has had his injury problems with us. We had to get a steel plate taken out of his leg in the summer and he played tonight with 12 stitches in a head wound.''

Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, had insisted before this tie that the competition represented a genuine opportunity for his club to win silverware and, as a result, there would be no risks with his team selection.

So Bolton could certainly not be accused of taking Northampton lightly, despite the 45 places separating the two clubs between the Premier League and League One, and the home side could have raced into a decisive lead inside the opening 20 minutes had debutants Riga Mustapha and Danny Shittu not spurned clear goalscoring chances.