Bolton are now 12 games unbeaten, and more importantly now, one point off the automatic promotion places after a 2-1 over Walsall.
It wasn’t plain sailing though. Bolton went behind for the first time in over a month when teenager Sam Perry scored his first senior goal from range.
That occasion was the game at Mansfield, and on that occasion we came from two down to win 3-2, so there shouldn’t have been any loss in belief, but there had to be an improvement on a first half where we were sluggish and would have left most of us tearing our hair out.
The second half was much better though. Crucially, we created more chances, but we also controlled the game much better. Declan John had a chance, as did Ricardo Santos, Eventually we got an equaliser, with Kieran Lee scoring his first goal for us, and from there it felt as though we would go on and win it, especially when Hayden White was sent off for violent conduct.
Lee would then be involved in the penalty we got, which looked a bit soft but frankly, who cares? Eoin Doyle stepped up and won it for us. In stoppage time they had a penalty shout but Cameron Norman was booked for diving. It was a slightly nervy finish, as you may expect when you’re winning by a single goal with a few minutes to go, but we’re now at the stage of the season where it’s all about grinding out results. And we’ve picked up another three points.
There’s another set of midweek games we aren’t involved in, but then we travel to Forest Green next Saturday in that big game that’s on TV.