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Bolton's Peace Cup campaign began with controversy after a 1-1 draw with South Korean side Seongnam Ilhwa. A goal from Kevin Nolan had given Bolton the lead before a late equaliser from Gil-il gave the Korean's a share of the spoils in the tournament opener. However, all this hapened after Bolton's Nicky Hunt had been sent off for an apparant stamp on Seongnam's Itamar. Television replays show Hunt may have been a little unlucky with the decision and manager Sammy Lee was certainly not happy with the referee's decision. Bolton dominated the game from start to finish, with their new 4-4-2 formation being tried out for the first time, and put to effective use. The Whites had Nolan and Guthrie on the flanks dictating the play and creating a host of chances for the Bolton forwards. It was Seongnam who had the first effort of the game when Itamar's run was followed by a tame shot which was straight at Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal. Itamar was beginning to be a thorn in Bolton's side and on 10 minutes he went on another run and this time his shot beat Jaaskelainen, but came back off the crossbar and to safety. Then, Bolton stepped up their tempo and Kevin Nolan fired over the top after a great ball from Gary Speed. Just 10 minutes later, Nolan wasted a clear opportunity to put the Premier League side infront. The skipper found himself unmarked inside the six yard box and with the goal at his mercy lost his concentration, getting the ball caught between his feet before stumbling over and the ball rolling wide of the right hand post. Bolton's nerves were to be tested in the second half, as Hunt was shown the red card on 54 minutes, and on the hour Ricardo Gardner was stretchered off the field with a hamstring injury, having earlier replaced Jlloyd Samuel at left-back. However, Bolton took the lead on 79 minutes, when Nolan made up for his earlier misses by volleying in off the post after an Ivan Campo free-kick was flicked on in the area by Kevin Davies, allowing the skipper to do the rest. But in the dying minutes, Seongnam grabbed their equaliser, Kwang-min's ran through the Bolton defence and pulled the ball back for Gil-il to tap home and give the Korean's a largely unexpected and undeserved point. |
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