Leyton Orient 1-2 Bolton Wanderers - Full time match report

A tense game was settled 15 minutes from the end as the Nigerian striker came off the bench to rifle home Szabolcs Schön’s cross.

Dion Charles had opened the scoring early on with his 50th goal for the club but Bolton let Leyton Orient back into it – Charlie Kelman equalising and Nathan Baxter forced into a number of good saves to preserve the result.

But for just the 16th time in the last 50 years Wanderers are able to celebrate a win on the opening day of the season, sending their supporters home from the capital happy.

Wanderers hadn’t scored a goal at Leyton Orient since 1997 but that changed in the ninth minute of the game when Charles rifled in a bouncing shot from the edge of the box after Aaron Collins’ knock down.

It was just the start Ian Evatt would have wanted and some of Bolton’s early work on the ball was bright and inventive, particularly when wing-back Szabolcs Schön got space to play.

Leyton Orient have been awkward opponents in the last few seasons, however, and after chipping away with some clever set pieces and hitting the bar through Zech Obiero, they got back on level terms.

The O’s had targeted the channel behind Schön and Jack Iredale for much of the half but Dan Happe long angled pass got the Australian in all sorts of bother, eventually losing his footing and leaving Charlie Kelman to finish well under Nathan Baxter.

Wanderers rarely got their passing game going at full tilt but did hassle a few mistakes out of the home side when their press clicked into gear. Charles stabbed one effort wide from Collins’s cross and should have been put in on goal by his strike partner midway through the half, only for the pass to go astray.

Trickier times were ahead for Evatt’s men. Kelman continued to give Iredale a torrid time and was denied a second goal by a smart save low down from Nathan Baxter.

The Bolton keeper also athletically tipped over a powerful header from Jordan Brown, as the O’s effectiveness from set pieces continued to cause problems.

Collins did have one good chance fall his way after Schön pulled a low cross back from the left but failed to get a connection on the ball.

Wanderers looked to the bench for inspiration, bringing on John McAtee for his debut, but Orient continued to look the more likely to get a second. Kelman was thwarted again by Baxter after a brilliant exchange with Brown.

Evatt had no central defensive cover on the bench, so had to improvise in order to limit the damage being done by Kelman. New signing Jordi Osei-Tutu was brought on for Iredale, with Josh Dacres-Cogley shifting into the right centre-back role.

But it was another replacement, Adeboyejo, who made the big difference. Less than a minute after he came on to the pitch Wanderers flashed a couple of crosses into the box, the last of which from Schön dropped to him at the far post before being rifled into the roof of the net.

The wind was out of Orient’s sails for a long time after that. Bolton were revived by their substitutions, not least Jay Matete, who snapped into challenges and brought the 1,200 travelling fans to their feet.

Baxter would make one more telling contribution, however, tipping a fine effort from the dangerous Kelman round the post in stoppage time to ensure three points.