Coca-Cola Cup win lacks the fizz!

Games when the result is of far greater importance than the manner in which it is achieved.

The scoreline shows Wanderers came through their second round Coca-Cola Cup tie unscathed; Bristol City, doggedly determined in a dour first leg, were duly dispatched by a comfortable-looking margin.

But the statistics make better reading than the critical analysis of the 120 minutes of toil they had to go through to secure their place in tomorrow's third round draw.

Having looked ideally placed for a safe passage, Wanderers came perilously close to joining the likes of Everton and Manchester City on the casualty list.

So it was with some relief that Colin Todd consoled himself with the knowledge that his team's name goes into the hat and comforted concerned supporters with the promise: "We'll be back on song against Stoke on Saturday!"

They will have to be, otherwise their Top Gun status will be in grave danger of crashing and burning.

Any repeat of the untidy, disjointed display they got away with last night and the bookies might be revising those ever-shortening promotion odds.

Few could have envisaged the tie going into overtime but at least the extra half hour gave Wanderers the chance to show something like the form that has taken them to the top of the First Division.

They never looked comfortable in normal time; John McGinlay's 47th minute lead being wiped out within ten minutes by Gary Owers and Joe Jordan's battling Second Division side matching them almost shot for shot in the 'near-miss' reckoning.

But their spirit was finally broken with Nathan Blake and Alan Thompson getting the goals early in each half of the extra period to settle the supporters' nerves, not to mention the manager's.

Todd pulled no punches when he put the performance into perspective. "The players had a lot of praise for what they have done so far this season but I'm not being unfair when I say I was very, very disappointed with them.

"I'm pleased with the win, of course, and delighted our name's in the hat for the next round. But we are streets better than that.

"It may be unfair to say it, but we allowed ourselves to get dragged down to their level because they were better than us on the night. We were lucky to go in at half time still level at 0-0. "What disappoints me and Phil Brown is that the team has fallen so far below the high standards they have set themselves."

Todd singled out Thompson as the only player who performed to a high standard and it was fitting that the midfield ace should cap his Man of the Match display with the goal that put the game out of Bristol's reach after 107 minutes.

He had gone closest to securing the win in normal time, heading a Scott Sellars cross against the post with just seconds to go. But Jordan's marauders, who had served up a feast of scares for Wanderers, were good value for the extra period.

They were on borrowed time, though, once Blake popped up at the back post to leather Per Frandsen's cross into the roof of the net, his eighth goal in as many games making up for missing the target with two close-range headers.

Now, at least, Wanderers assumed a measure of control for the first time with substitute Sellars slowing the pace and showing more appreciation of the possession that was so hard to win yet had been all too easily squandered.

The clincher came from an incisive counter attack. Gerry Taggart, who had worked solidly with Chris Fairclough to contain the City attack, showed neat footwork to take the ball away from the danger area before aiming a long clearance towards McGinlay. A flick of the Scotsman's head sent Thompson on a run that beat his markers, rounded the indecisive Stuart Naylor and gave him a well deserved fourth goal of the season.

Jordan hailed his side's best performance for some considerable time but counted the cost of missed chances that could have put his Robins on the giant-killing roll of honour.

He reflected: "We could have been 2-0 up in the early minutes of the game when we had very, very clear chances and Shaun Goater could have wrapped it up in the dying minutes.

"But, apart from the chances we missed, I thought we were first class. We played good football with a lot of commitment.

"It's not easy to come to Burnden Park at the best of times ... and these are the best of times for Bolton. We took the game to them and we were a credit to ourselves."

It might encourage their Division One rivals to know that Wanderers have struggled so badly in both games against Jordan's team. They became the only side this season to deny them a goal in the Ashton Gate bore draw and caused more irritation and frustration last night.

The game wasn't helped by referee Roy Pearson, who produced a catalogue of confusing decisions, including a booking for Michael Johansen for "diving" when he was brought down by Darren Barnard's tackle, when Wanderers thought they had a good case for a penalty.

But things appeared to be going wrong all night for the red-hot favourites, who counted themselves lucky not to be a goal down after four minutes when Gregory Goodridge hit the underside of Keith Branagan's crossbar with a close range header.

While Blake, McGinlay and Johansen were missing the target, Frandsen finally found his range and it took a smart save by Naylor to keep out his spectacular 30-yarder.

McGinlay's early second half goal should have been the signal for Wanderers to settle into some semblance of the passing style that has taken them to the top of the tree. But it never happened and when Goater escaped handball appeals to send Owers away for a well-taken equaliser, a surprise was on the cards.

David Lee was often the mainspring of the attack as Todd and Brown urged their players to improve on a scoreline that suited City as long as it stayed at 1-1. But the winger's only serious threat was a low drive that Naylor pushed wide - and he didn't even get the consolation of a corner!

Then came the critical, heart-stopping moment. With six minutes of normal time left and the Bolton defence waiting for an offside flag, Goater was left free to wander. Time stood still as the former Rotherham striker suddenly realised he could play on and, if Branagan hadn't managed to smother his near-post shot, Wanderers would have been out.

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