WANDERERS have been League One’s comeback kings this season but simply gave themselves too much to do on a wasteful night at the Memorial Stadium.
Having dragged themselves level twice through Aaron Morley and John McAtee, Bolton looked a spent force at the end as a rejuvenated Bristol Rovers made it two home wins in a week to ease their relegation fears.
The Whites had plenty of chances to have made this an easier night – and they lacked something of the sharpness they have shown in recent weeks in attack.
Chris Martin scored twice for the Gas before Connor Taylor wrapped up the win. But on a night where Wrexham also dropped points, you cannot help but think that any slender hopes of automatic promotion may have now faded away.
Wanderers made just two changes to the side that had beaten Burton Albion at the weekend, swapping both wing-backs as Gethin Jones and Szabi Schon came into the side for Jordi Osei-Tutu and Josh Dacres-Cogley.
Schumacher had been pleased with Newcastle United loanee Alex Murphy at the weekend, describing his hard-fought performance at Burton as the best since he signed for the club.
He also checked that enthusiasm by saying that the 20-year-old had been susceptible to the odd early mistake – and so it proved after just five minutes at the Memorial Stadium as his trailing arm left Kofi Shaw on the floor and prompted referee Carl Brook to point to the spot.
Soft penalty thought it may have been, veteran striker Chris Martin was not about to pass up the gift. He rolled the ball past Luke Southwood to open the scoring, capping a night that had already seen him scoop an award pre-match for reaching 700 career games.
Going behind is nothing new for Bolton, indeed they have made a habit of it since changing manager. And they shrugged off the disappointment quickly to establish control of possession and eventually the game before half time.
Rovers defended their penalty box stoutly under pressure. But Bolton should have been level well before Morley finally punctured their defences on 38 minutes.
George Thomason passed one chance wide after a cross from Murphy on the left, and Aaron Collins missed a glorious opportunity right in front of goal after Jones had turned back another Murphy cross at the far post.
Home fans teased their former hero, who was clearly eager to grab another goal on this ground, just as he had last season in a 2-0 win.
Wanderers were playing some confident football, however, and though some of their work around the penalty box could have been tidied up, a few better decisions made, there was no doubting that they were capable of adding to their tally.
That moment finally arrived at the end of the first half when Schon’s corner skidded off a defender’s head and dropped nicely for Morley eight yards out. Whereas Collins had tried to be cute in his finish, the midfielder went for raw power and left home keeper Jed Ward with no chance whatsoever.
Could Bolton maintain that momentum into the second half? Well, the opening few minutes were not promising.
Southwood had to make two big saves, the first to push away Ruel Sotriou’s close-range shot and the second a fearsome strike from Kofi Shaw. Between that, Clinton Mola managed to pull a shot wide of the far post from six yards out.
Just as Wanderers started to wobble, they created two chances that could easily have killed the game.
The first went to McAtee, who raced through on goal after Schon had nicked the ball in midfield. He looked to curl a shot around the advancing keeper and inside the post but got his angles wrong.
Almost immediately an even better chance went begging. Sheehan got to the byline on the right and rolled a pass across goal. Schon got there but under pressure from James Wilson he couldn’t divert the ball over the line.
The wastefulness was catching at the other end too, as Sotriou raced clear after a quick counter-attack only to fire wide.
The speed of the home side’s counters were certainly a cause for concern, and sure enough, just after the hour mark they caught the Bolton defence flat again, Shaw winning the ball back in midfield and Sotriou crossing for Martin to fire in his second of the night.
The action by that stage was head-spinning but the Whites managed to find yet another response. Morley’s cross was headed goalwards by McAtee and though his effort might have clipped Thomason on its way in, he will certainly be claiming his 12th goal of the campaign.
Wanderers were starting to look jaded and as the minutes ticked down, the home side looked the more likely ones to grab the fifth goal of a breathless night.
It wasn’t a scenario where you wanted to be proven right but when Rovers won a free kick on the left edge of the box for a rash challenge from sub Osei-Tutu, Matt Butcher’s ball was flicked on to the far post, where the waiting Taylor made no mistake.
It was too much to ask for another comeback. Wanderers knew they had themselves to blame for continually playing catch-up in this one. And now with three key games against local rivals to come either side of the international break, we will see how resilient this Bolton side truly are.
