Wanderers RES 1, BLACKBURN ROVERS RES 0: Julio Cesar and Joey O'Brien were sent off as Wanderers Reserves forged an unlikely victory against local rivals Blackburn Rovers.
Blessing Kaku's penalty 10 minutes from time earned a slender win for Neil McDonald's side, after they played 90 per cent of the game with reduced numbers.
Wanderers got off to the worst possible start, when Julio Cesar was sent off for a professional foul after only eight minutes after bringing down Matt Derbyshire outside the penalty area.
Blackburn had the better of the first half with Keith Barker missing three gilt-edge opportunities to put the visitors ahead in the opening 30 minutes. Young Bolton keeper Sam Ashton was up to the task making two excellent saves.
The best chance of the opening 45 minutes came on the stroke of half time when Rovers' Joel Byrom headed Gary Harkins corner on to the bar.
Bolton started the second half with vigour and James Sinclair had a fantastic opportunity after 53 minutes when he made an incisive break into the box and drove his shot to the top corner of the net only for Steven Drench to make a fine save.
Bedi Buval should have opened the scoring when he rounded the Rovers keeper only to slice his shot wide of the post.
And five minutes later, Joey O'Brien was dismissed for a rash challenge on Ralph Welch.
The heroics of keeper Ashton kept Bolton in the game, and 10 minutes from time the unthinkable happened.
Buval was felled in the penalty box and Blessing Kaku duly obliged by slotting home the penalty to take Bolton to victory against all the odds.
Wanderers: Ashton, Powell, Talbot, Barness, Laville, Cesar, Sinclair, O'Brien, Buval, Kaku, Pedersen. Subs not used: Luisi, Sissons, Cassidy, Hill, Stott.
Rovers: Drench, Kane, Rowntree, Hodge, Barr, Harkins, Welch, Byrom, Derbyshire, Barker, Watt. Subs not used: De Vita, Fielding, Thomas, Thompson, King.
Sent off: Julio Cesar, 8, Joey O'Brien, 76.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article