As the nation celebrated the return of Oasis, Wanderers’ assured performance at Croud Meadow saw Shrewsbury’s hopes of progressing in the Carabao Cup slide away.
Ian Evatt had been keen to quickly bounce back from Saturday’s defeat at Charlton, and that is exactly what happened thanks to second-half strikes from Jordi Osei-Tutu and Dion Charles.
Bolton made six changes from the side at the Valley as Evatt continued to use the Cup competitions to get valuable minutes in the legs of players who joined later in the window or saw their pre-season preparations hampered by injury.
Luke Southwood got the nod in goal after his penalty shoot-out heroics against Mansfield in the opening round.
Osei-Tutu and Chris Forino came into the side, while Josh Dacres-Cogley started despite coming off at the Valley with a minor knock.
Jay Matete and Kyle Dempsey came into the midfield, with Scott Arfield also named in the starting line-up.
A trio of youngsters from the B Team, Ajay Weston, Sonny Sharples-Ahmed and Ben Andreucci, were named on the bench along with Luke Matheson, who has been around the first-team squad more regularly.
Shrewsbury made three changes from Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against Huddersfield, with Morgan Feeney, Charles Sagoe Jr and Leo Castledine coming into the side – the latter making his debut after arriving on loan from Chelsea.
Wanderers started brightly, with Osei-Tutu getting down the left and picking out Dempsey in the box. The midfielder got a shot away but was denied by the reflexes of Toby Savin.
Ricardo Santos then got on the end of a dangerous cross from the right but the skipper could only direct his header at Savin.
Arfield thought he had put the Whites in front after combining with George Thomason but his strike bounced back off the post. The goalkeeper nearly spilled the rebound into his own net but managed to prevent it from crossing the line.
The experienced midfielder had another shot at goal, this time after a clever turn by Dacres-Cogley, but it flew over the bar.
Thomason also sent a strike over before Luca Hoole missed the target from distance at the other end.
Arfield continued to find himself in the thick of the action but his goal-bound effort was blocked by a defender after more good work by Osei-Tutu on the left flank.
The hosts did not have much joy going forward in the opening 30 minutes but almost went in front when Southwood made a good stop low to his left to keep out John Marquis’ header.
The resulting corner dropped to Castledine and he caught his volley sweetly, but it deflected wide off a Bolton shirt.
Dempsey thought he had broken the deadlock on the stroke of half time after getting on the end of Forino’s cross, but Morgan Feeney made a brilliant clearance off the line.
Charles also went close moments before the break, flashing an effort just wide after latching onto George Thomason’s through ball.
Wanderers picked up where they left off in the second half but Charles could only find the side netting with a strike from an angle.
The pressure eventually paid off when Osei-Tutu rifled home from a tight angle after Shrewsbury had failed to clear their lines.
It was the wing-back’s first goal for the Whites following his move from Bochum in the summer, and it was just what his performance deserved.
Wanderers were forced into a change before the hour mark, with Arfield unable to continue. John McAtee was introduced off the bench at his old stomping ground.
The change did not halt Bolton’s momentum, though, and Charles soon doubled the lead with an emphatic finish into the roof of the net. There was a slight bit of fortune as the ball ricocheted into his path but the Northern Irish international made no mistake with his strike.
Evatt made a triple change with just under 20 minutes to go, with both goalscorers and Matete making way for Szabi Schon, Josh Sheehan and Aaron Collins.
McAtee nearly added a third moments later with a low drive that seemed destined for the bottom corner, but Savin made a fine stop to claw it wide.
Collins then had the ball in the net, but the offside flag went up to deny the Welshman his first goal of the season.
There was plenty of endeavour from the hosts in the final stages as they battled to get back into the game, but it did not translate to chances on goal.
Sharples-Ahmed got on the pitch in stoppage time - the youngster’s second appearance at senior level.
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