REPORT | BOLTON WANDERERS 4 ARGYLE 0
Bolton Wanderers 4
Dempsey 4
Charles 10
Kachunga 49
Jones 61
Argyle 0
Argyle’s big day out at Wembley sadly turned into a brutal experience, as the Greens failed to recover from a nightmare start under the famous arch.
Kyle Dempsey and Dion Charles both scored inside the opening ten minutes for Bolton Wanderers and they repeated that dose with two more at the start of the second period, converted by Elias Kachunga and Gethin Jones.
Callum Burton started in goal for the Greens, behind a back three of James Wilson, Dan Scarr and Macaulay Gillesphey. Captain Joe Edwards and Bali Mumba occupied the wing-back slots, sandwiching midfield duo Jordan Houghton and Jay Matete. Danny Mayor, Callum Wright and Ryan Hardie formed the forward triumvirate.
Amid a sensational cauldron of noise, Bolton took the lead within four minutes, when a deep corner picked out Dempsey for a powerful header steered back across Burton and inside the far post.
Argyle’s sluggish start continued with a loose pass opening room for Charles to have a pop, charged down by Scarr. The Pilgrims had not settled and Bolton made them pay, scything their way down the right flank before a pass squared to Charles, who had a simple task of slotting past the exposed Burton.
A buccaneering run and shot from Edwards, although blocked by the towering frame of Ricardo Santos, finally gave the shellshocked Green Army something to cheer. Wright then jinked into space for a shot dragged wide, as Argyle gradually warmed to the task.
Bolton, however, continued to be a menace, with Conor Bradley breaking down the right and cutting a lovely pass back to Dempsey, who saw his effort half charged down by Scarr and Gillesphey, allowing Burton time to pounce on the ball before it crossed the line.
Mumba and Edwards switched flanks to provide a different dynamic for the Greens, and it almost worked immediately. Matete, Houghton and Mumba combined to release Wright for a low cross that grazed off the studs of a sliding Hardie to force James Trafford into his first save of the afternoon.
Mumba then swapped passed with Wilson and was felled by a clumsy challenge from Eoin Toal, but referee Ben Toner waved away the penalty claims. Bolton replied with another penetrating break by Dempsey, who thankfully fired straight at Burton from 18 yards.
A rough first 45 minutes for the Pilgrims ended some rays of hope, as Argyle took relative control of the territorial battle but the big day still required a massive second-half display.
Argyle boss Steven Schumacher made two changes at the break, introducing Sam Cosgrove and Matt Butcher for Matete and Mayor, with the Pilgrims now attacking the end filled by the magnificent Green Army.
Sadly for Argyle, the final took another nightmare twist, as Kachunga raced through a gaping hole in the Pilgrim defence and calmly steered a comfortable finish beyond Burton.
Finn Azaz for Wright was the next Pilgrim change but the Greens were a side desperately short of their normal attacking rhythm, while Bolton, quite understandably in the circumstances, were the team operating with a far higher level of confidence.
It was game over on the hour, Jones planting a powerful header past Burton from a corner, while Brendan Galloway came on for Gillesphey as Argyle looked to salvage something from a desperate day.
Hardie struck one effort into the side-netting and Butcher had a drive deflected wide but they were small crumbs. Mickel Miller for Mumba was the final Argyle substitution.
A nightmare day for Argyle and the Green Army, who formed part of a wonderful 79,389 crowd at Wembley, the highest attended fixture in Europe this weekend.
Thank you for the amazing support on a very difficult day.
Bolton: 19 James Trafford; 2 Gethin Jones, 3 Declan John, 5 Ricardo Santos, 8 Josh Sheehan (4 MJ Williams 82), 10 Dion Charles (35 Cameron Jerome 74), 16 Aaron Morley (25 George Thomason 82), 18 Eoin Toal (6 George Johnston 87), 21 Conor Bradley, 22 Kyle Dempsey (20 Kieran Lee 74), 24 Elias Kachunga. Substitutes (not used): 12 Joel Dixon (gk), 27 Randell Williams.
Booked:
Argyle: 25 Callum Burton; 3 Macaulay Gillesphey (22 Brendan Galloway 66), 4 Jordan Houghton, 5 James Wilson, 6 Dan Scarr, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Ryan Hardie, 10 Danny Mayor (16 Sam Cosgrove H-T), 17 Bali Mumba (14 Mickel Miller 73), 26 Callum Wright (18 Finn Azaz 54), 28 Jay Matete (7 Matt Butcher H-T). Substitutes (not used): 32 Adam Parkes (gk), 21 Nigel Lonwijk.
Booked: Mayor 40, Scarr 51, Cosgrove 84
Attendance: 79,389
Referee: Ben Toner