Wanderers’ Under-23s slipped to defeat in a five-goal thriller against their Sheffield United counterparts on Monday afternoon.
Early on in the clash, the Whites were quickest off the mark, with a long ball over the top finding Connor Hall who forced ‘keeper Jake Eastwood into a smart save, only for Jeff King to turn home the rebound.
Just a minute later however, the Blades restored parity with Jordan Hallam’s flick-on finding Tyler Smith whose deflected shot found the net at the near post.
And in the ninth minute, the home side took the lead in the clash as Oliver Greaves fired home when one-on-one with Jake Turner following a clever pass from Rhys Norrington-Davies.
Despite finding themselves behind, Bolton rallied and came close to a leveller after a clever flick from King, but he couldn’t stay compared as his shot flew over the bar from 18 yards.
They were then dealt a bitter blow before the break however as a throw down the line was picked up by Greaves who cut inside the area and curled the ball home via the underside of the crossbar.
After the interval meanwhile, the Trotters got themselves back in the game with a well-taken King free kick from the left hand side finding the top corner in the 57th minute.
And they were handed the perfect opportunity to pull themselves level ten minutes later as Cantrill committed a foul in the area, but Eastwood was United’s saviour with a superb save down to his right to keep out Harry Brockbank.
The home side had chances to extend their lead inside the closing stages meanwhile, but come full time the scoreline remained as such.
Bolton: Turner, Morris, Muscatt, Edwards, Brockbank, Regis, White, Perry, Hall, King, Earing
Subs: Aspinall, Politic, Lonsdale, Navarro, Broughton