VIDEO referees were nowhere to be seen at the Toughsheet Stadium – but one wonders if one would have made a difference as Wanderers’ FA Cup adventure came to an end against Luton Town.

Headlines had been dominated by VAR’s decision to ignore the Hatters’ second-half penalty appeal in the first game, and the boys at Stockley Park would surely have had a decision to make after a couple of contentious moments in this entertaining third round replay.

Dion Charles had given Bolton the lead – a goal which did have a whiff of offside about it – before Tahith Chong grabbed a soft equaliser moments later.

The excellent Chiedoize Ogbene put Luton back in front in the second half but Wanderers then had an equaliser ruled out by the linesman, one presumes by the most miniscule of margins, as Charles and Adeboyejo touched home a cross from Eoin Toal.

There was no shame in defeat for the Whites, for whom Adeboyejo was outstanding and George Thomason better still. They left their mark on the Hatters in both games and were at no stage outclassed.

Wanderers made two changes to the side that had started the game at Cheltenham. Zac Ashworth came in for Jack Iredale on the left and Josh Sheehan replaced Kyle Dempsey in central midfield.

An immaculate tribute was paid before kick-off to Iain Purslow, the season ticket holder who sadly lost his life at the weekend. Some of his family were present as both sides observed a minute’s silence, with a picture beamed up on the big screens alongside the words “Forever a Wanderer”.

Ticket sales had been advertised around the 11,000 mark during the day and adverse weather seemed to suggest they would not climb much higher – but as the game began, fans were still clambering into their seats in the East Upper and North stands, queues having stretched some distance outside.

Luton’s plans for a warm weather retreat during the Premier League’s winter break were dented by Bolton’s belligerence in the first game. The Hatters fly out to Dubai on Wednesday morning – but first had to endure a proper Lancastrian January night in Winter Hill’s shadows which was sure to sort the boys from the men.

Young wing-back Ashworth has not had many chances to prove his worth since coming in from West Brom on loan in the summer, and his inclusion instead of Jack Iredale or Randell Williams – who had complained of tightness in his hamstring – was a concession to the raw pace of Luton’s Irish international Ogbene.

Wanderers struggled to track his excellent movement on both wings in the early stages, and just as they had in the first encounter Evatt’s side needed some time to feel their way into the contest.

Some stout defending was needed at a series of early set pieces which gave the Hatters a chance to send up their big men but having survived the early spell of pressure, Bolton produced a piece of magic to take the lead.

It all started with a fine piece of covering defending from Will Forrester at the back, racing to clear after Carlton Morris had kept the ball in play near the Whites penalty box. His ball down the line found Adeboyejo, who outmuscled Teden Mengi and found Charles to drive home the opening goal.

Ironically, had VAR been in operation for the game, there may have been a review on Adeboyejo’s starting position, which looked slightly offside. The same could be said of a couple of Luton attacks before the half was through.

Adeboyejo fired another effort just wide from the edge of the box moments later as the home fans started to consider a shock was on the cards. Yet just as Bolton seemed to be enjoying themselves, a mistake from Josh Dacres-Cogley just outside his own penalty area allowed Morris to shift the ball to Chong, who buried his shot into the bottom corner.

Luton drew confidence and looked like getting a second, Ogbene’s pace coupled with Barkley’s direction proving a difficult formula to dilute.

Chong had a shot deflected just wide, Morris beat the post by inches with another angled effort, and Wanderers began to get frustrated with a string of refereeing decisions, coupled with a seemingly unliftable linesman’s flag.

Ogbene played Jordan Clark in for a glorious chance 10 minutes before half time, another which was guided wastefully wide, after which Bolton found a second wind and very nearly reclaimed their lead.

Adeboyejo was dominating the top-flight defenders around him, likewise George Thomason was having the game of his life. The two combined just before half time to bring a save out of Tim Krul, who moments later would be pedalling nervously back to his own line to tip an audacious lob from Adeboyejo from under his own crossbar.

Wanderers rode their luck a little at the start of the second half as Clark rattled the post with a shot and Baxter was needed to make a smart double stop from Chong and Ogbene.

They refused to cave, however, and Charles was denied by a brilliant block from half-time sub Amari’i Bell after Paris Maghoma had cut a cross back from the byline.

The end-to-end flow continued. Thomason was in a class of his own in midfield, winning every loose ball that dropped. He had two shots charged down within seconds of each other following an attack launched by a rampaging right-wing run by Ricardo Santos, of all people.

Quickly thereafter, Luton seized the advantage. Morris did well to turn Santos and roll a ball into the six-yard box for Ogbene to tap in his second of the season.

Thomason had a difficult chance to equalise on 66 minutes, controlling sub Jack Iredale’s lofted pass with his head, he tried to volley at goal with his second touch. If anyone was going to do it on the night for Bolton, it was him, but sadly not this time.

A planned minute’s applause on the 71st minute for Iain Purslow passed by with Wanderers on the attack and for a couple of glorious seconds it looked like they had found an equalising goal.

Toal drove a low cross in from the right and both Adeboyejo and Charles got a touch on the ball before it bobbled into the net. The linesman’s flag, presumably aimed at Charles, cut the joyous celebration short and, once again, we were left pondering if a VAR official would have seen it differently.

It was the last action the strike pairing would see, as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Cameron Jerome came off the bench to finish the match.

Bolton pushed hard to get back into the tie but couldn’t quite manufacture another moment.

“We’re Bolton Wanderers, we’ll see you next year,” chanted the home fans towards the end.

Whether Luton succeed in their battle for survival, who knows, but if the Whites play with this sort of spirit for the remainder of the season they will be playing Championship football, no question.