Why Portsmouth and ex-Sunderland striker Aiden O'Brien felt Bolton were lucky to gain point after Blues stalemate

Pompey striker Aiden O’Brien felt Bolton were lucky to leave the University of Bolton Stadium with a point following tonight’s stalemate.
Aiden O'Brien has scored four goals in 10 Pompey appearances.   Picture: Philip BryanAiden O'Brien has scored four goals in 10 Pompey appearances.   Picture: Philip Bryan
Aiden O'Brien has scored four goals in 10 Pompey appearances. Picture: Philip Bryan

With both sides harboring faint hopes of breaking into the top-six by the end of the season, a victory was imperative for each, however, neither could claim three points in Lancashire.

The ex-Sunderland striker had looked to set the Blues up for a grandstand finish to the campaign, when he fired the Blues into the lead early in the second half – but his strike was cancelled out by a Kieran Sadlier penalty with 10 minutes remaining.

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When asked if he felt Bolton were fortunate to gain a point he told The News: ‘100 percent.

‘I think if they’re honest with themselves, they’ll feel that as well. They had a spell, probably the last 10 minutes of the game where we sort of tired a little bit.

‘But they never really hurt us and I felt like we were the more dominant team. Especially away from home, that’s a big statement.

‘It’s another step in the right direction.

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‘I feel like (the penalty) was all they had. I could be wrong, but I don’t feel like they had any chances, any shots or troubled our backline at all. The back four were absolutely brilliant all-game.

Tonight’s draw with Ian Evatt’s side saw the visitors end a three-game barren run in front of goal..

He added: ‘We were absolutely dominant the whole game and we deserved to score four goals, I reckon, and away from home which is a big statement.

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‘We didn’t take them and we are disappointed in that, but we’re really happy with the performance and how we played from top to bottom.

‘On another day there’s four goals going in there, easily. I really enjoyed it out there today and having that extra player up the pitch was quite impressive.’

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