The young Wanderers were unfortunate not to earn a point against neighbours Salford City at the weekend, ultimately succumbing to a solitary strike.
Jay Fitzmartin’s penalty kick was saved by the Ammies’ keeper to deny his side – at the very least – a deserved draw after the hosts took the lead against the run of play earlier in the half.
Wanderers controlled the opening stages of the game, forcing Salford to defend their 18-yard box and adopt a counter attaching approach.
The visitors were relentless during the opening 45 minutes with Salford’s right side; however, they were wasteful in front of goal having carved open a good number of scoring opportunities.
Wanderers were clearly on top as the second-half got underway, with their front three causing Salford all sorts of problems but their final ball sometimes let them down.
However, a mix up in the visitors’ defence cost them dearly with Salford taking the lead against the run of play.
Wanderers reacted in the right way and continued to attack the Salford goal.
Eventually, they put the ball in the back of the net only to see it ruled out for an offside infringement.
Wanderers incessant pressure almost paid off when they won a penalty, but the Salford keeper guessed the right way to deny Fitzmartin a more than deserved leveller.
Academy Manager Mark Litherland said: “We got the performance but not the result.
“From both boxes, we were superb creating chance after chance and I felt sorry for the players because they should have won the game.
“They created enough chances to win five games and had well over 70% of the ball. It’s frustrating that we didn’t win but the lads are heading in the right direction.
“I’m confident that if we continue to play football like that, we’ll win more games than we lose.”
Bolton Wanderers Under 18s:
Luke Hutchinson, Nathan Whalley, Max Conway, Matthew Tweedley, Ryan Colvin, Lamine Toure (Jack Thompson 68), Mitchell Henry, Regan Riley, Finlay Lockett (C), Markus Assarsson (Arran Pettifer 60), Jay Fitzmartin.
Sub Not Used: Joe Brown.