The Big Match Verdict

And, sure enough, two of the people Wanderers fans love to hate lived up to their reputations.

But at least they gave us something to talk about, even though Sam Allardyce might find himself considerably lighter in the wallet when the FA examine what he had to say about the referee's performance.

Thank heavens for the controversy. Because, in pure footballing terms, this 134th Lancashire derby offered so little in the way of entertainment that 18,000 spectators and the pay-per-view clients of Sky's Premier Plus service would have been justified in demanding refunds.

Wanderers showed tremendous resilience to earn a point and thus deny Rovers the chance to go above them in the Premiership table.

But, a man down after just 33 minutes when Hide Nakata was sent off for a second bookable offence, their approach had to be one of containment while Mark Hughes' men appeared to be lacking in the energy stakes after their midweek exertions against Manchester United in the Carling Cup semi-final.

It was, under the circumstances, a tremendously hard-earned and thoroughly-deserved draw, which might have been a win had Ricardo Vaz Te not lost his footing, just as he was about to knock the ball into the unguarded goal after skirting round Rovers keeper Brad Friedel 15 minutes from time.

(Memo to Wanderers' kit man: Check youngster's studs before next game).

Other than that, Wanderers' only worthwhile scoring chance fell to Kevin Davies in the ninth minute when he was denied by Friedel after pouncing on a mistake by Lucas Neill.

What followed was a catalogue of incidents that made the post-match war of words far more interesting than the action on the pitch.

Allardyce, after first acknowledging his pride in his players for taking a point, read from notes to illustrate why he believes he cannot get a fair deal from Mike Riley, who has now sent off five Bolton players in just seven Premiership games.

He did not, as some might have suggested, contest that Nakata should not have been sent off for reckless tackles on Savage and David Bentley, nor, in highlighting that Savage had escaped disciplinary action, did he suggest that the wildest of the Rovers should have been sent off.

But he could not come to terms with the injustice of six of the eight yellow cards being shown against his players and argued that it was the referee's handling of the game that sparked a clash of rival fans in the shadow of the CIS Stand 20 minutes from the end.

Having stood before the TV cameras and accused Mr Riley of "nearly starting a riot", he then sent Sammy Lee to echo his sentiments in the main press conference, where the Wanderers assistant manager found himself having to launch a spirited defence of his players and his team's tactics.

"It was a very, very committed performance in the face of adversity," Lee said. "I thought we coped admirably, being a man down for a large part of the game."

In turn, Mark Hughes rounded on Wanderers.

Although admitting Mr Riley did not have one of his "better days" the Rovers boss argued that Joey O'Brien should have followed Nakata down the tunnel for a late tackle on Ryan Nelson and praised Savage for not being provoked into his 10th booking of the season.

"I don't think Bolton can have any complaints," he said. "The only inconsistency was that the worst foul of the game wasn't punished with a red card as well.

"No doubt a certain member of our side will be thrown into the mix and be viewed as the villain of the piece, because he always seems to be viewed in that respect, but I thought Robbie showed a lot of discipline and restraint because, in the first half, he was targeted for fouls to try and get a reaction."

Then Savage turned up to launch his own passionate defence, claiming he had been outraged by reaction to his role in the unseemly flare up with Manchester United players on Wednesday night and by the pre-match comments of Stelios, who suggested he went around "trying to smash the legs" of his opponents.

"Why is everybody having a go at me?" he asked. "I've not made a bad tackle, either today or on Wednesday, or this season.

"I know sometimes I bring these things on myself, but what I've had these last few days has been outrageous.

"One of their players says that I go out to try to hurt the opposition and that's totally unjustified. I'm not that sort of player.

"I can't remember, in 422 games, when I've gone over the top in a tackle."

It would, as Sammy Lee suggested, have been better for all concerned to have concentrated on the football. But, apart from acknowledging how well Wanderers had resisted Rovers, despite being a man down for an hour, to claim their 14th clean sheet of the season, there was little to shout about.

Wanderers might stand accused of being pre-occupied by Savage but the Welshman, as he says, does not help himself.

Yes, he was on the wrong end of Nakata's first yellow card challenge in the 13th minute, but the dramatic way he went to ground when Khalilou Fadiga met him, shoulder to shoulder, earned the Senegal international the most ridiculous booking of the game.

With bookings coming at the rate of one every 10 minutes and a man already back in the dressing room, it was going so badly for Wanderers you'd have thought Barry Knight - their other refereeing nemesis - was prompting Mr Riley from the sidelines!

But they regrouped, sacrificed the unfortunate Jared Borgetti to put Ivan Campo in the midfield anchor role, and set about being solid.

And the fact that Rovers were limited to a couple of scrambles and a Brett Emerton header that bounced to safety off the underside of the bar was a testament to how solid they were.

Tal Ben Haim and Bruno N'Gotty were magnificent at the heart of the defence, Campo did enough to probably cement his place in that pivotal midfield role he once made his own, and young O'Brien made the most of his earlier let-off to give another brave performance.

But it was all hands to the pump and, once again, Kevin Davies - regarded as a £7.5 million flop during his disappointing time at Ewood Park - showed why he is now so valuable to Wanderers.

With Allardyce electing to give Borgetti his first Premiership start, Davies switched from his familiar spearhead role to start wide on the right; Nakata's dismissal saw him back in the central role then he spent the last half hour wide on the left, allowing Vaz Te to put his pace to the test against the Rovers back four.

And it was Davies who delivered the pass of the game to set up the chance that should have brought the youngster his first Premiership goal.

His slip, just as he was about to pull the trigger, might have cost Wanderers two points but, in the light of what had gone on before, it was fair that the honours were shared but neither side emerged with much credit.