Bolton United v Route One Rovers at Witton Park, Blackburn

5.25pm 5 June 2022

Asian Image Championship, Semi-Final at Witton Park, Blackburn
Bolton United 1 Route One Rovers 6 (att 140)

I only spotted this fixture thanks to Twitter on Saturday night. Apparently the competition, for Asian clubs in the north of England, is played every year. It's organised by Asian Image, a newspaper for the Asian community.

All the matches take place on a pair of 3G pitches at Witton Park in Blackburn. The quarter-finals were last weekend, and this was the first semi-final.The second was due to be played after this.

Whoever won it will face a tough task taking on Route One Rovers in next weekend's final. The Yorkshire Amateur League side played some great football and were far too strong for their Manchester League opponents.

Bolton United scored first, after just four minutes, but that was as good as it got for them. Route One were level within 60 seconds, and were 2-1 ahead by half time.

The second period was one-way traffic. Bolton did their best to stem the tide but could do little as their Bradford-based opponents cruised into the final.

This game was played on 'pitch one' at Witton Park. There's a barriered area for spectators along one touchline, which was busy as plenty of people braved the rain to watch the tie.