Wanderers exited the Emirates FA Cup following a narrow defeat at the hands of Premier League outfit Huddersfield Town at Macron Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Following a goalless first period, the deadlock was broken five minutes into the second half as Rajiv van La Parra turned the ball home from a yard out before Danny Williams doubled the Terriers’ advantage two minutes later with a deflected long range effort.
Derik Osede did halve the deficit in the 63rd minute of the clash with a header at the far post from a corner kick, but despite Bolton's best efforts inside the remainder of the clash, they couldn't find an equaliser and bowed out of the competition at the third round stage.
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There were a handful of changes for Wanderers from their last outing, with Mark Howard, Adam Le Fondre, Derik Osede, Aaron Wilbraham and Filipe Morais coming into the fray from the starting XI.
FIRST HALF
The game started with gusto, with Antonee Robinson – fresh from extending his loan with the Whites until the end of the campaign – tricking his way into the box before unleashing a dangerous ball across goal which the Terriers cleared at the death.
The visitors then responded in kind by winning a free-kick to the right of Mark Howard’s penalty area, only to see the aforementioned Robinson block the effort.
Thereafter meanwhile, the balance of the game swung to and fro, with neither side really able to gain a solid foothold in the clash.
Mark Howard nor his counterpart Joel Coleman were being troubled for the most part, with the majority of play being contested in the middle third of the pitch.
Town were looking threatening however, with them forcing Bolton onto the backfoot with a handful of forays into the Whites’ territory.
On the half hour mark, Scott Malone found a way into the mixer for Huddersfield, but Tommy Smith skied his effort high and wide at the back post.
With five minutes of the first half remaining, Wilbraham spurned Bolton’s best opportunity of the game as Morais’ cross found the frontman unmarked, but his header was wide of the mark.
And come the break, the scores were goalless.
SECOND HALF
The second half got underway with no changes for either side at the break and it was the Terriers who started the stronger, with Abdelhamid Sabiri stinging the palms of Howard from 20 yards inside the opening minutes of the final 45.
The opportunity certainly provided the visitors with a boost too, with them enjoying a period of pressure thereafter with Joe Lolley’s strike from the edge of the box deflecting narrowly wide soon after.
And within five minutes of the restart, Town had the lead as first half substitute Rajiv van La Parra turned the ball home from a yard out following a melee from a corner kick.
A blow for the Whites, it was to get worse two minutes later as Williams’ long-range effort took a horrible deflection off Mark Beevers to wrong foot Howard in the Bolton goal and send the travelling Huddersfield faithful into raptures.
A harsh scoreline on Wanderers, they set about searching for a route back into the tie and found it as Derik headed home at the far post from a corner to halve the deficit with 27 minutes remaining.
Following a quiet first half, the game had certainly sprung into life in the second period with Phil Parkinson's men giving their all to force an equaliser in the clash inside the final quarter of the game.
The Terriers were certainly on the backfoot having been in a commanding position after their quick-fire double, with the introduction of Craig Noone with 15 minutes left signalling Bolton's intent in the encounter.
With the game entering its final ten minutes, it was all hands to the pump for the Trotters with Wheater and Beevers finding themselves in make-shift attacking positions following a series of set plays.
Up the other end meanwhile, following a counter attack, Howard did well to keep out Williams' drive with the Huddersfield man firing goalwards from a tight angle.
With time ticking away, Bolton made their final two substitutions with Connor Hall and Jeff King being thrown into the mix in place of Vela and Little.
The visitors were clinging onto their slender advantage, with their rare forays into Bolton territory coming to nothing much.
But come the final whistle, Wanderers just couldn't find a leveller and exited the Emirates FA Cup at the third round stage.
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