Wanderers 2, EVERTON 2

IF faith can move mountains, what can it do for a club's Premiership prospects?

When you are the team's spearhead striker and you have not had so much as a sight of goal, let alone a sniff of a chance, you couldn't argue if you were taken off and someone else was given a chance.

But Sam Allardyce has grown to know and trust Michael Ricketts and, on Saturday, the manager's confidence in his own convictions and his faith in his top scorer's abilities were rewarded handsomely.

Wanderers had tried everything and given their all but they were heading for their fourth successive home defeat when Gudni Bergsson climbed high to head Ricardo Gardner's umpteenth corner bang on target.

Previous desperate attempts to snatch an equaliser had been blocked, parried, deflected and disallowed but this time Ricketts was there to make sure.

He had his back to the target but a flick of the heel and the ball was over the line. One chance, one goal; his ninth of the season - eight in the Premiership - and his fourth in the last three matches.

"You leave them on the pitch when they're having a quiet time, just hoping they get a chance and get you the goal," Allardyce said of top strikers in general, "and Michael's proved to everybody how to finish.

"A lot of other chances fell to a lot of other players but that was his one and only."

Big Sam didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He was disappointed because, having seen Per Frandsen end the Reebok goal drought with a quickly-taken tenth minute free kick, he was hoping to go into the two week Premiership break with a victory that would have taken confidence to new heights and, on chances created, he was justified in feeling that was what Wanderers deserved.

But, having been down to 10 men and trailing 2-1 with 94 minutes on the clock, it was hardly surprising to hear him confess to being both satisfied and relieved at the end.

"It would have been devastating if we'd lost," he admitted. "For me, that's possibly the turning point of our season."

It certainly stopped the rot and could well prove to be a massive point but it looked destined to be one of those horrible afternoons after Wanderers' contribution to Bonfire weekend turned out to be nothing more than a damp squib.

And it got worse. As an expensive array of unexploded pyrotechnics was being dragged off the field, fans watched in disbelief as the goalkeeping jinx struck again.

Jussi Jaaskelainen, whose last appearance at the Reebok ended with him tossing his shirt to Bo Hansen before taking an early bath, trudged off without even coming under starter's orders.

There was nothing veteran stand-in Kevin Poole - or any other keeper - could do to prevent Alan Stubbs and Paul Gascoigne recording their first goals for Everton but it did look like the fates were once again conspiring against Wanderers.

Even more so when a spirited revival looked like being thwarted by some inspired goalkeeping by former Tranmere number one Steve Simonsen, a couple of agonising near misses and eagle-eyed refereeing by Andy D'Urso, who reckoned Dean Holdsworth handled the ball in the melee from which Kevin Nolan emerged to smash home what he and everyone else inside the Reebok, believed to be the equaliser.

Thankfully and deservedly Ricketts produced the spark that detonated an explosion of relief and joy that no amount of gunpowder could ever match.

As self-assured as he is, the young striker from Birmingham obviously expected goals being hard to come by in the Premiership since he admits he is already close to the target he set himself at the start of the season. He refuses to reveal the figure for fear of adding to the pressures but in his words he "smashed" last season's target when he hit 24 and at his current rate he will blow this season's out of sight - if he hasn't already.

In just 12 appearances - nine starts, three as substitute - Ricketts has already eclipsed John McGinlay's six-goal Premiership high of 95-96 and is only four short of Nathan Blake, who top scored with 12 in the 97-98 season. His star is in the ascendancy and his valuation increases with every game he plays.

Everton went back to Merseyside distraught after conceding such a late equaliser.

But Walter Smith was looking through blue tinted glasses when he reflected on the balance of play and considered two points had been "thrown away".

Wanderers looked comfortable, confident and in control in the first half until Stubbs produced a strike as powerful as any of the blockbusters he unleashed in his six years in a Bolton shirt to equalise a minute before half time.

True, Everton looked the better side for the first 20 minutes of the second half and looked set fair when the ubiquitous Gascoigne scored his first goal in the Premiership for more than two years as Wanderers took time to re-organise at the back after Simon Charlton limped off.

But it would have been a travesty if the Bolton fans had gone home with anything less than a point to savour.

Their team finished the stronger by far, playing with a purpose, with spirit and endeavour, and having managed to conjure up a raft of chances.

Young Nolan, who hails from the Red side of the Mersey divide and would have cherished a victory more than most, was desperately unlucky not to claim the equaliser in good time to give his team-mates a chance to press on for all three points.

The disallowed "goal" was one of three chances that got away in a five minute spell of sheer frustration.

Rod Wallace spurned a couple of half-chances but he was even unluckier than Nolan when a terrific shot on the turn deflected off David Weir and ended up being tipped onto the bar by the keeper.

Holdsworth fired a powerful header just over but, even though they had a dodgy defensive spell after Charlton's departure and finished a man short after Djibril Diawara was sent off after a rash tackle on David Unsworth - his second bookable offence - Wanderers refused to surrender.

"They had 20 minutes when they were on top but the first half was probably the best we've been here at the Reebok," Mike Whitlow suggested.

"Kevin (Poole) couldn't have seen that shot of Stubbsy's but before that I think they had one shot. I don't think they had an actual chance - a couple of corners and a couple of free kicks.

"We can't use Simon going off as an excuse because there were enough 'old croaks' out there with experience to sort it out ... any one of three could have side-footed it into the net.

"They (Everton) had a go second half and did well but that last 15 minutes was probably the most exciting here for a while. We had a goal disallowed which was dubious but we hung on to the last and Ricks (Ricketts) sneaked one, which was nice.

"We'll take a point - especially after the last few home games - but we're disappointed we didn't keep a clean sheet."