Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Bristol Rovers - Dion Charles earns late point

Dion Charles grabbed a 94th minute equaliser to ensure Ian Evatt’s side took something from an impossibly frustrating evening.

Bristol Rovers had led from the second minute – Josh Coburn giving Joey Barton’s side a lead they protected with ferocity until the bitter end.

But on a night where good prevailed, Charles’s seventh goal of the season at least gave Bolton something to reward their endeavours.

One of the messages that will surely have gone out in the build up to the game was to avoid playing catch-up in the same way they had at Fleetwood in their previous league outing.

There was some defensive upheaval as Eoin Toal came in for his first league game for the club, replacing the poorly skipper Ricardo Santos, and young Liverpool wing-back was making his home league debut on the left.

The speed at which Wanderers were unravelled was truly dizzying, however, as with Rovers’ first attack Anthony Evans got in behind George Johnston and Beck, driving a cross goalwards for Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn to turn into the net.

Such was the speed of the goal – inside 90 seconds – it barely seemed to register with the home fans, who just a couple of minutes later launched into their own tribute to the late, great Gary Speed with a rousing round of applause.

Wanderers did not let the early setback affect their own rhythm to any great degree, and spent the rest of the half creating the better opportunities. The trouble was they had left themselves vulnerable and with referee Robert Lewis in an unpredictable mood, there was simply no telling how easily they could get back into the game.

Beck suffered from some early nerves and it was on his side of the pitch that Evans and Bristol looked to have the best chance of creating a second.

But otherwise it was one way traffic. Elias Kachunga headed one deep cross from Gethin Jones into the side netting then had another drive tipped over the crossbar by keeper James Belshaw.

The experienced former Sheffield Wednesday man should have done better with the latter chance, having been played through neatly by Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, in the side for Dion Charles.

His frustration continued a few moments later when he tangled off the ball with James Connolly. Dapo Afolayan then won possession and looked to be running unchecked into the penalty box, only for referee Lewis to inexplicably blow for a foul.

Wanderers had a good penalty shout turned down when Afolayan’s chip appeared to hit the hand of Lewis Gibson, and George Thomason volleyed into the side netting from Aaron Morley’s corner.

Thomason’s night would end a few moments later after falling awkwardly in an aerial challenge with Evans. The young midfielder left the field on his own volition but looked to be in a fair amount of pain.

Bradley was next to feel wronged by the officials as he ran on well to Morley’s raking pass, beat the defender but then went tumbling on the edge of the box.

Evidently, Bristol also had some complaint. Joey Barton picked up a yellow card for some cartoonish protesting to the fourth official. By stark comparison, Ian Evatt remained impressively calm in a half where he probably had cause to get irate.

Right on the stroke of half time Bodvarsson wasted another good opportunity, picked out by Bradley’s low cross he scuffed a shot at goal to leave Belshaw with an easy save.

Not much changed at the start of the second half – sub MJ Williams had a goalbound shot blocked after another dangerous Morley corner had dropped favorably.

And Wanderers continued to find themselves in the wars. Bodvarsson was clattered after a Rovers corner – potentially by his own keeper Trafford. He left the field with face and nose bloodied, giving Dion Charles a little over half an hour to make an impact.

He had a after only a few minutes, Afolayan clipping a near post cross at head height, but the former Accrington man failed to make a telling connection.

Amadou Bakayoko, on for Kachunga, nearly grabbed an equaliser shortly after his arrival on the pitch. Picked out by the impressive Morley he produced a confident finish to beat Belshaw but sadly could not avoid being flagged offside.

There was something very Fleetwood-esque about the whole occasion, the wave after wave of white shirts heading in only one direction. You just had to hope that it would have the same outcome.

When Kieran Sadlier entered the arena with 18 minutes left, you could very easily have been watching a re-run, albeit from a stadium a little grander than Highbury.

Then, the chance, and the kind that Charles would have been dreaming about over the last 13 days. The striker had all the room in the world as he raced on to an errant pass from Connolly but failed to beat advancing keeper Belshaw, to a chorus of groans from three sides of the stadium.

As the minutes ticked down, even the staunch belief that Bolton ‘always’ score in this sort of situation was being tested to the full. Rovers played for time, ate up seconds with all the canniness that their manager Barton had back in the day.

As the fourth official held up a board indicating seven minutes of added time – a rather stingy total given some of the tricks - the crowd were pouring scorn on referee Lewis, whose decision making had become impossible to read by that stage of the game.

The official was not the reason Bolton were behind – they had themselves to blame for that – but his inability to keep the game flowing was playing very much into visiting hands.

Could it be the Whites were not going to do it this time? Why of course not.

Once again the ball was piled into the Rovers box, a half clearance landing at Charles’s feet 12 yards out. Only this time he angled a shot back into the top corner with unerring accuracy.

Bradley ran to grab the ball and restart play. We were in Wanderers Time after all. But if anything, Rovers endeavoured to waste even more time to protect their point.