Wanderers’ unbeaten start came to an end following a 2-0 defeat against Charlton at the Valley.
Greg Docherty and Matty Godden struck either side of half time on a frustrating afternoon in the capital for Ian Evatt’s men.
The Whites had few chances of note in the final third, with Dion Charles going closest in the first half.
Evatt named an unchanged side from last weekend’s stalemate against Wrexham, with Luke Southwood replacing Aaron Morley on the bench following the midfielder’s loan move to Wycombe.
Charlton made one change from their win against Leyton Orient, with Theirry Small replacing the injured Josh Edwards.
There were promising signs for the Whites in the opening stages, with John McAtee pouncing on Thierry Small’s sloppy pass and driving towards goal. However, the attacker – who was signed by Nathan Jones at Luton Town a couple of years ago – scuffed his shot wide.
Aaron Collins then showed clever feet as he tried to launch a counter attack and was hauled down by Conor Coventry, who was booked by referee Lee Swabey. Luke Berry was also cautioned for his protests.
But Wanderers shot themselves in the foot after 10 minutes when Ricardo Santos lost possession cheaply on the edge of his own box. Docherty still had lots to do to beat Nathan Baxter but picked out the top corner with a fine strike.
Collins won a free kick right on the edge of the Charlton penalty area as Wanderers searched for an immediate equaliser, but the Welshman failed to beat the wall.
The former Bristol Rovers man continued to cause problems for the hosts, charging down a clearance which felt to Charles, who tried an ambitious volley but failed to test Mannion between the sticks.
George Johnston, named in the starting line-up for the second weekend in a row, did Baxter no favours with a rogue backpass but the goalkeeper did well to clear his lines under pressure.
Charles had the Whites’ best moment of the first half, testing Will Mannion with a clever effort on the turn. However, the Charlton goalkeeper reacted quickly to get down to his right and make the save.
Evatt’s men were enjoying plenty of the ball and had the Addicks penned in on the edge of their own box at times, but struggled to carve out many chances of note. Johnston drilled a pass into Collins’ feet but his effort was held by Mannion.
The hosts also had spells of pressure as the first half went on, with Docherty continuing to receive the ball in dangerous areas.
Small’s cross eventually dropped for the midfielder, whose initial strike was well saved by the legs of Baxter. The rebound was simpler for the goalkeeper to deal with.
George Thomason cut onto his left foot on the stroke of half time and delivered a cross that was not too far away from curling into the bottom corner.
Evatt opted to make a couple of changes at the break, with Jordi Osei-Tutu and Victor Adeboyejo joining the fray for Josh Dacres-Cogley and Charles.
Unfortunately, not much changed in the next 20 minutes for Bolton, who were frustrated by a Charlton side keen to maintain their 100 per cent start in the league.
Kyle Dempsey and Jay Matete were also introduced off the bench in place of Josh Sheehan and George Thomason as Evatt looked to inject energy in the middle of the pitch.
Eoin Toal had a half chance after getting on the end of Szabi Schon’s corner but could not direct his header goalward.
Charlton nearly doubled their lead through a corner of their own but Chuks Aneke could not keep his header down after getting up highest.
At the other end, McAtee let fly from the edge of the area. It was a sweet strike but flew over the bar.
The end-to-end nature continued heading into the final 10 minutes, with space opening up for Dempsey to drive into.
Aneke had another sight at goal but sliced an effort wide of the near post after he was teed up by Conor Coventry.
Charlton put the game to bed in the 88th minute when Godden met Aneke’s pinpoint cross with a diving header past Baxter.
Scott Arfield replaced Johnston for the final few minutes but the hosts preserved their clean sheet to continue an impressive start to the campaign.
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