Wanderers were beaten 4-2 by Salford City in the Central League following an entertaining encounter at Lostock.

The Whites raced into an early lead through Gerald Sithole and Arran Pettifer but the visitors hit back through Junior Luamba, Djauan Pedro.

Ethan Smith wrapped up the result with a late double as Wanderers committed bodies forward at the other end.

Sithole got the nod up front alongside Trevon Bryan after getting some valuable experience under his belt while on loan at Altrincham.

The young forward was immediately involved in the action, winning a penalty after he was brought down in the box by James Carr. Sithole made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Carr the wrong way.

Pettifer doubled the lead moments later after pouncing on a defensive error and keeping his cool to slot home.

Unfortunately, Sithole’s afternoon was cut short when he made way for Gio Loureiro as an injury precaution.

After a rocky start, Salford started to have some joy in the final third and nearly pulled one back when Pedro was inches away from a dangerous cross from the right.

Ben Collins then had a volley deflected into the side netting before Luamba forced Luke Hutchinson into action with a low drive.

The wideman continued to cause problems and his cross nearly went in off Eric Yoro, but Hutchinson made a fine stop above his head.

Luamba eventually got his breakthrough on the stroke of half time, reacting quickly and rifling past the Bolton goalkeeper.

Salford picked up where they left off in the second half as Pedro beat Hutchinson with a deft header after getting on the end of Kyrell Malcolm’s floated cross.

Malcolm continued to make things happen down the right wing, picking out Luamba who couldn’t keep his header down from close range.

Hutchinson made a couple more saves, first to keep out Jacob Hamman’s deflected strike and then to deny Smith after a mazy run.

Wanderers struggled to carve out chances in the second half and were caught on the break in the final stages as they searched for a winner.

Smith latched onto a long ball over the top and tucked home at the near post from a one-on-one situation. The Whites’ protests for an offside were waved away by the officials.

Smith struck again with virtually the final kick of the game, once again getting in behind the Bolton backline after a quick breakaway and providing a similar outcome.

Hutchinson, Halford (Tutte, Frimpong), Yoro, Hayes-Green, Matheson, Tweedley (Trialist), Pettifer, Sharples, Inwood, Bryan (Trialist), Sithole (Loureiro)