STEVE Mellen East Anglian Daily Times Sports Editor, and an unashamed Ipswich fan, gives a different version of events

Bolton may curse but it was a magical night for us

FOR the neutral it was a superb exhibition of breathless, non-stop attacking football, a game that had absolutely everything.

For Bolton fans, it was the night they were robbed, nay, cheated out of a second successive Wembley play-off final by some southern softies and a ref, who obeyed the home crowd's every request.

For Ipswich fans, with the pain of three play-off defeats in a row still fresh, it was the glorious game in which we finally stopped being punchbags for more 'physical' opponents and broke our play-off hoodoo.

I'm not a neutral, and I'll never be a Bolton fan, so it's no surprise I subscribe to the third point of view.

The question is - who is right?

On paper, the night looks harsh on Bolton. Two red cards, three penalties and yellow cards handed out like confetti, but was it really one-sided refereeing? No, it wasn't.

For a start, put it in context. Bolton are a physical team, we are not. It's no coincidence we won the Fair Play League last season. And it was a well-known tactic to try and rough us up at the time.

Charlton used the ploy to great success in the 1997-98 season, but for the Trotters it backfired.

Well boo hoo, you live by the sword, you die by the sword. And yes, we were given three penalties, but the only one that anyone could have any complaint about was missed, so that's a side issue.

Mike Whitlow's red card also looks harsh on video, but it came on a night when Barry Knight had to constantly hand out warnings to Bolton players for overzealous challenges.

I think the official had simply had enough. Robbie Elliot can have no complaints over his red, having already been booked, although Martijn Reuser's roll is salt to the wound I expect.

Having dealt with those red cards, I can say - hand on heart - that more could have been shown to Bolton players, mainly for some staggering dissent after the second penalty was awarded.

It made the Manchester United players' verbal assault on Andy D'Urso look like a cordial discussion over some Earl Grey.

And the play-offs are a two-legged affair, so can I drag everyone back a few days to the Reebok Stadium and the first leg (a 2-2 draw). Within 15 minutes of kick-off we had Tony Mowbray back on the bench with his eye gouged, and David Johnson crocked after a tangle with Mark Fish - a tangle which should have led to an Ipswich penalty. Bolton fans never mention that, strange.

And, if you want to complain about refereeing decisions being costly, perhaps I can raise the two games with Bolton the year before. Richard Naylor was brought down at the Reebok Stadium in the box but no penalty was given. This was crucial in a tie which finished with away goals proving decisive, but I don't hear George Burley complaining about that.

And, of course, it would all be academic if Bolton had managed to win the play-off final the year before, but they lost 2-0 to Watford. Yes Watford, who went on to be relegated with the least number of points since the Premiership began.

I prefer to remember that night as a magical occasion. A night when a team that had been banging on the Premiership door for four seasons, was finally let in.

And you know what they say. When one door opens, another is slammed shut. And it was Bolton's turn to be left out in the cold. That's football.

What do you think?

E-mail Internet Editor Chris Sudlow on csudlow@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk