No place for fantasyfootball!

And in a surprise development, Everton say they are prepared to replay last season's Premiership match when an even more blatant over-the-line injustice ultimately led to the Merseysiders cheating relegation at Wanderers' expense.

Meanwhile, a flock of saddlebacks took off from a pig farm in Breightmet, on a mission to a moon made of green cheese!

Arsene Wenger's sense of fair play is a credit to him and to Arsenal but in the real world, when vital issues such as promotion and relegation are at stake, there is no place for such magnanimity.

Football managers may whinge but they soldier on at the mercy of the "these-things-even-themselves-out" syndrome.

Wanderers got the rub of the green on Saturday when just about everyone in the stadium, including Todd and most of his players, saw the ball cross their line - TWICE - and no goal was awarded.

Albion can argue that, unlike in the "diplomatic incident" at Highbury where no rule was actually broken, the law states categorically that a goal is awarded when a ball goes over the line. But not if the referee doesn't see it and neither John Kirkby nor his linesman saw anything of the kind when Lee Hughes threw his arms high to celebrate his 54th minute "equaliser".

They did, however, see Bob Taylor offside in the first half when he and just about everyone else in the ground thought he'd legitimately put Wanderers level five minutes after Fabian DeFreitas had put the Baggies in front displaying the best of his infamously-erratic finishing, which once frustrated Bolton fans.

Swings and roundabouts! A point Todd made so graphically when he remarked: "We would still be in the Premiership . . ."

It was all he needed to say: no explanation or elaboration; no specific reference to September 1, 1997, when Gerry Taggart's looping header clearly crossed the Everton line before Terry Phelan hacked it away.

Wanderers didn't get lucky on Saturday; they got even and it would be poetic justice if that decision ultimately puts them back into the Premiership.

Enterprising Albion contributed to an immensely-entertaining game but few would argue Wanderers didn't deserve their good fortune.

They lived on their nerves at times and had Jussi Jaaskelainen to thank for two stunning and vital reflex saves - from Hughes' close-range shot in the first half and Mike Whitlow's mis-placed header in the second. They also know they could have been more solid once they were in a winning position but they played the better football and created enough chances to have had the game sewn up by half-time.

No one can dispute, either, their right to now be in second place in the table after extending their unbeaten run to 14 games with a sixth straight win.

Richard Sneekes, who left Wanderers for The Hawthorns during the 95-96 Premiership campaign, was characteristically calm and philosophical in his appraisal.

"Our players said it and your players said it," he acknowledged.

"The ball was over the line.

"But, in the end, the linesman makes the decision and there's nothing we can do about it.

"It must have been very difficult for him to see.

"But I think Bolton were the better side. Sometimes they played the better football than us.

"We just worked hard and created some chances. I suppose we could have got something out of it but it didn't happen.

"We have to take it on the chin."

That's what the victims of sporting injustices have been doing since Adam was a lad.

And until the authorities take a lead from cricket and use eye-on-the-line cameras and fourth officials, they will go on having to grin and bear it.

"You don't need fourth officials," Albion boss Denis Smith said sourly "just good ones."

He'd asked Mr Kirkby for his version of events when Kevin Kilbane's near-post corner and Hughes' frenzied footwork caused a scramble in which the ball appeared to cross the line twice before being cleared. "He said he couldn't see it and the linesman didn't give a decision," Smith reported back. "If he didn't see it that's that. The linesman's view must have been blocked by the goalkeeper who was lying in the back of the net at the time!"

Victory was a bitter-sweet sensation for Taylor, who shrugged off the disappointment of having his well-executed goal disallowed by a debatable offside decision to impressively convert a similar chance - again set up by the outstanding Michael Johansen - just before the interval and had a hand in the 52nd minute move, which the impressive Neil Cox started and finished for his second goal in successive home games.

Saluted before, during and after the match by the 3,000 Albion fans, Taylor swapped shirts with Hughes at the end to display his enduring affection for the Baggies.

Super Bob - a Hawthorns cult hero - admitted having mixed emotions: "After six and a half years at the club, where I shared the highs and lows with the fans, I suppose I'd rather have won the game and not scored. I didn't want to be the one who rubbed West Brom's noses in it.

"But I've got a job to do for Bolton Wanderers and life goes on. In that respect it was nice to score but more important for the team as a whole to keep the run going."

Wanderers are now in the envious position of being in control of their own destiny and with a game in hand on all their main rivals.

"The ability is there and the confidence is there," Todd said with the satisfied smile of a manager who has seen his team pass another searching test of character. "We really had to dig deep at times again but we always looked capable of getting a third goal, although I got a little disappointed when we were 2-1 up. We should have had the know-how to control the game better. The midfield were trying to get the third goal instead of sitting tight for 10 or 15 minutes.

"But the players believe we can win every game. We still believe they can can catch Sunderland, which is a great motivation, especially since we still have to go up there."

They still have talent in reserve too. Bo Hansen, who completed his long-awaited £1 million transfer from Brondby in midweek, had to watch from the subs' bench as his fellow countrymen showed him the way.

Per Frandsen went close and Claus Jensen went even closer when he hit the crossbar, spurning a terrific chance cleverly teed up by the hard-working Dean Holdsworth, who would have continued his recent scoring streak if he'd shown more composure in the second half.

But it was Johansen who shone above the rest. Always available as an outlet on the right, slipping tackles at will and so frequently the provider, his first half performance was a revelation.

Todd was fulsome in his praise, Smith was envious and Taylor was most grateful: "Michael really pulled the stops out."

There are problems on the horizon with Paul Warhurst missing and the increasingly reliable Mark Fish due to miss the Crewe game on Saturday week. But Robbie Elliott's two vital late cover tackles suggests one of the centre-back shirts is in safe hands.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.