MATCH REPORT: Wanderers finally get it right at both ends

WILL the real Bolton Wanderers please stand up, writes Neil Bonnar

They couldn't buy a win recently. Before that they could do no wrong.

In fact the only predictable thing about them is their complete unpredictability!

Sam Allardyce warned us that last night could be a nervy 90 minutes because of the tension which has built up after last minute goals in each of the last three games cost his side a total of six points.

In the event it was one of the most comfortable victories you could hope for with no sign of the jitters and every indication that Wanderers possess admirable composure.

Experienced Wanderers fans will not be jumping for joy on the basis of one performance, however. Rather they know that at Birmingham on Saturday they will get what they are given because, as with all volatile assets, past performance is no indication of future success.

Allardyce has every justification for his firmly held belief that if they perform as last night they will get a result against the team one place and one point higher than them in third place.

Wanderers got it right at both ends, a rare feat indeed during recent turbulent times when they have either lacked a cutting edge up front or shot themselves in the foot at the back.

An opportunist strike from Gudni Bergsson - his third in the last four home games which puts him third in the club's top goalscorer list - and two top quality finishes by Robbie Elliott and Michael Ricketts proved too much for a neat and tidy but sadly lacking in quality opposition.

Although Wanderers will be content with keeping Rangers down to just one goal in reply - on second thoughts after the recent last minute horror shows they are probably dilerious - they will know there is still room for improvement at the back.

The goal they conceded was a disaster. Marlon Broomes was given all the time and space in the world to cut in from the right and pick out six foot six inch Peter Crouch to plant a firm header just inside Jussi Jaaskelainen's right hand post, the keeper getting a hand to it but unable to keep it out.

That came three minutes before the break and was only Rangers' second serious raid on the Wanderers goal. The first exposed an equally lax response to penetrative play when Karl Connolly made a perfectly timed run on to Gavin Peacock's through ball. That Wanderers escaped owed more to the Rangers' striker's poor first touch and final shot than anything else.

And in the final seconds Richard Langley had the entire goal to shoot at eight yards out but blazed high, wide and horribly.

But while not ignoring these slips they should not be allowed to cast a cloud on what was an extremely encouraging performance and an all important result coming, as it did, after a run in which just seven points had been gleaned from the previous eight games.

The plusses far outweighed the minuses with the performance of Kevin Nolan in midfield probably the most memorable.

The youngster was marginally outshone in the first half by the outstandingly direct and determined Ricardo Gardner but over the 90 minutes Nolan was a key player in the victory.

He covered miles of ground, got stuck in and showed great comfort and skill on the ball. Eye-catching also was the lack of nerves evident in one so young on an occasion and within a team which were supposed to be a little nervy.

He proved his potential as a creative talent as well as a crowd pleaser with his superb version of a trick made famous by Johan Cruyff at his flamboyant best to create the space to cross for Ricketts to back-heel inside the near post.

But he had already served notice of his ability with two outstanding first touches which resulted in a shot which was blocked by alert defenders and a mouthwatering cross which took out the keeper but eluded all team-mates.

Gardner deserved a goal for his magnificent application and he almost got it midway in the first half when he stormed on to Bo Hansen's cross only to see his bullet header somehow kept out by a flashing one-handed save from Lee Harper.

He had no better luck in a carbon copy scenario minutes later when he made only the slightest contact with John O'Kane's centre when he looked certain to score.

Hansen was another whose workrate was unquestionable and his growing influence would probably have resulted in at least one goal but for Rangers sweeper Matthew Rose twice getting in the way.