My left foot

Or rather, Bolton's left leg... was he playing injured?

Dad and I were watching the match and noticed Bolton didn't seem quite like himself. Tentative and half-hearted we initially suspected he didn't feel like playing. The reason Dad thought of was no Socceroo call-up. Seriously, looking at the number two goalkeepers that we've had playing in the past few friendlies we certainly couldn't do any worse than Bolton, or even Beltrame, in my opinion. Perhaps he'd gone into a "what's the point?" frame of mind...

And then he fumbled that ball for the second goal (the first also being a goalkeeper 'error' although in hindsight, an injured left leg would also have had a significant role in preventing Bolton from diving to the right considering you need some push off from the left). Something was definitely up.

His goalkicks and any free-kicks he too were all weak, his supporting leg behind the ball, with no follow through. Which, going on my left leg hypothesis, makes sense as putting a good follow through with the right leg means putting the body weight on the left leg. He was also taking his time with all the kicks, even at 2-2 (which in my opinion is 'losing' considering Sydney were playing at home).

And then there was a moment when I'm sure I saw Bolton land normally on his left leg, and quickly distributed the ball. As the camera panned away from him he was hopping about. A second fumble eerily similar to the second goal began to confirm the suspicions of my Dad and I. It was almost as if Bolton was making a real effort not to use his left leg for landing or pushing off - even if it cost Sydney a goal. Luckily this 'fumble' had some bounce so Bolton caught it one-handed.

I could be wrong, but I'd like your opinions. Not that I have a massive amount of readers or that any of you are as goalkeeper 'obsessed' as I am.

I'm still a bit gutted about Willis - sure he didn't sit on his line and lacked some assertiveness, but he had the makings of a decent 'keeper. The last thing I need today is for Bolton to be injured. C'mon Beltrame, let me finish today on a high.