EXITING the FA Cup at the hands of a League Two side was met with little more than a shrug by most this weekend, a result which will hopefully prove an insignificant footnote in the season’s grander tale.

Compared to the importance of promotion, a run in this competition does pale by comparison. And if by May Ian Evatt and his side have guaranteed Championship football, then the contents of Saturday afternoon will barely warrant another mention.

Experience tells us that these micro-doses of disappointment rarely vanish completely. The recent run of good league form has helped forge a reluctant truce between the manager and the most vocal of his critics. Rather like a warring couple, though, this type of result tends to be tucked away for use in a future argument.

Taking nothing away from Walsall, whose high-energy and commitment earned them their scalp, but Bolton played like a team who had nothing riding on the outcome. With the notable exception of captain George Johnston, who couldn’t dial down his enthusiasm if he tried, the whole side appeared to play within itself, offering nothing of the snap and crackle we’d seen at Stevenage or against Peterborough United.

Evatt had promised changes to the team, but it came as a surprise to many that his line-up was still comprised entirely of first team players, albeit ones who knew they could not afford to add to the club’s significant injury list.

Though youngsters like Jack Dallimore – used as reserve keeper because Luke Hutchinson was cup-tied – Sonny Sharples-Ahmed, Sam Inwood and Conor Lewis sat on the bench desperately waiting for an opportunity, the circumstances of the game prompted Evatt to attempt a rescue job and bring on big-hitters Vic Adeboyejo, John McAtee and Aaron Collins towards the end.

But having lost the lead given to them by Josh Sheehan’s classy free kick in just four minutes, Bolton became directionless and gradually succumbed to heavy home pressure, Jamie Jellis snatching a winner in the first of nine minutes of stoppage time.

It is a shame that Wanderers felt so indifferent about the outcome, as to the neutral this was a cracking traditional cup tie, played out in front of a stoked-up home crowd.

Had Evatt’s side retained the same cutting edge they had shown on Tuesday night, the game might have been over by half time. Dion Charles was unusually wasteful with a one-on-one, George Johnston hit the bar with a header and both Sheehan and Randell Williams had efforts deflected narrowly wide of Tommy Simkin’s goal.

By the close of the half Walsall had grasped Wanderers’ gameplan and their high-paced, direct football was starting to cause alarm. Jellis – who had gone close in the very first minute, pulled another good shot wide, and Johnston had to provide a wonderful headed clearance off the line to stop old stager Albert Adomah from opening the scoring.

When Wanderers did get their goal, it was against the run of play. Scott Arfield had another afternoon to forget, his chief contributions a first-half penalty appeal for a shove by Connor Barrett and being legitimately fouled by Harry Williams, presenting Sheehan with a shooting opportunity from 25 yards he was never going to turn down.

Keen to prove the old footballing cliché about never being more vulnerable than when you have just scored a goal, Bolton wasted their lead within four minutes. Will Forrester got caught under a long punt from keeper Simkin, the ball taking one bounce before Liam Gordon – one of Evatt’s early Bolton signings – lashed it home after outmuscling Randell Williams.

Walsall looked hungrier to win and had chances to do so. Jellis shaved the post with one curling shot and Luke Southwood made a couple of impressive saves to repel shots from Taylor Allen and Nathan Lowe.

Sensing another 30 minutes of extra time or penalties were looming, Evatt brought on extra firepower, but the trio of attacking players had little impact on the game.

Home defender Williams walked from the pitch with a bad head wound after colliding with the advertising boards – an incident which at one point knocked him unconscious. He will have learned about the winning goal en route to hospital.

Wanderers were pushing forward at the time, but Simkin’s clearance was picked up by Lowe, whose ball to Jellis exploited the gap behind Szabolcs Schön. With defenders again slow to react, he had the time to gallop into the penalty area and beat Southwood with a good finish.

Of course, this did not sting to anything like the degree that the Stockport County defeat did a few years ago, and what a strange quirk of fate that Edgeley Park is exactly where Evatt and Bolton are heading next.

Whilst not exactly a ‘free pass’ this result does turn up the pressure dial a notch for next weekend and will almost certainly be mentioned in despatches if the Whites go into the international break on a down-note.

Ricardo Santos got his rest, no further injuries were added but they were the only possible positives to take from another afternoon where standards slipped.

Every player who set foot on the pitch at the Bescot on Saturday afternoon will hope to be a part of a promotion-winning team by the end of the season. From Bolton’s perspective, however, and to coin a lyric from Walsall’s finest, Noddy Holder, this was far, far away.