Luke's Football blog

Bolton come into this game as favourites as they dominated Barnsley to get there, and they will hope for a return to the second tier for the first time since 2019 with their fans backing them all the way. 

Oxford come into this game battling Peterborough in the semi-final, which will give them hope of a chance for an upset against Bolton. It won’t be an easy test though, and they will have to find a way and not crumble like they did a few weeks ago in a 5-0 loss to them.

First half and it was Bolton who started off the strongest with them coming close from Josh Sheehan in the 16th minute however it would be the underdogs who would take the lead with a shot from Josh Murphy deflecting off Ricardo Santos into the Bolton net to give his side the lead, it did look like it was coming but no one would’ve expected them to get the lead.

Soon it would be 2, and it was that man again Josh Murphy, with some brilliant play from Ruben Rodrigues Murphy ran through on goal to score his second of the game and to give his side the advantage before half-time in the final. No one would’ve expected it to be this comfortable, but Bolton have not been at the races today, and it shows in the way they are playing.

Second half and once again, it was Oxford having the better of chances, with Josh Murphy coming close to getting his third goal of the game. Bolton were still trying to nick a goal to get something out of the tie, but it wasn’t meant to be in the end as Oxford strolled to victory and are in the second division for the first time since 1999.

It’s a huge achievement for lifelong fan Des Buckingham, leading his hometown club to the second division, and it is something that will never be forgotten in the hearts of Oxford fans as they now get to see their club back where they belong in the Championship.

For Bolton and it is a disappointing way to go out as they didn’t look like winning at all. It was a lacklustre performance from Ian Evatt’s men with them not even having a shot on target in 100 plus minutes at Wembley and with a team with that much quality, it was not good enough, and they really paid the price for it.