Bolton enjoy a lucky streak

WEARING only a pair of black boxer shorts, black socks and black shoes, it was impossible to imagine quite what motivated the male streaker who invaded the Riverside stadium pitch on the rawest of Teesside afternoons.

Certainly, as a bold display of naked ambition, it contrasted sharply with the lack of purpose afflicting Bolton’s disjointed team before the break. With his progress unchecked and his run unchallenged, the man in question had something in common with the Middlesbrough players given unlimited time and space earlier.

And when the ranks of Wanderers’ supporters began chanting “sign him up” they had a point. The ineffectiveness of the isolated Pole, Grzegorz Raziak, suggested Bolton may have been better off employing a lean streaker than a lone striker. Anything, absolutely anything, would have been an improvement on their first 45 minutes.

“Our keeper had to pull of several magnificent saves and we could have been out of it in the first 10 minutes,” admitted Kevin Nolan, the Wanderers’ midfielder, after Boro laid siege to Ali Al-Habsi’s goal for nine minutes.

In preserving parity Al-Habsi escaped Nolan’s ire after that ignominious opening. He was one of the few, as he laid into his colleagues right, left and centre with four-letter words and finger-pointing.

“I had a go at my team mates,” added Nolan. “I think we were all flat and needed a bit of a shake up. It probably didn’t need me ranting, but I thought: ’Let’s see if I can inject a bit of life.’”

The Nolan effect was by no means immediate but after half-time his approach appeared to have worked and, where Boro began the first half with a bang, Bolton finally started to create some their own sparks.

However, in sharp contrast to the profligacy of David Wheater, Tuncay Sanli and Afonso Alves, a revived Gavin McCann made Wanderers’ pressure count with a close-range first goal of the season, after Gary Cahill’s header had been saved by Turnbull.

Nolan knows Bolton are not safe but back-to-back league victories for the first time in 12 months gives the Trotters hope that a tumultuous campaign can end on a positive note. Avoiding relegation would be the club’s greatest achievement to date: “Bearing in mind we lost our manager, we sold our top scorer, lost our goalkeeper and our centre-forward was out, staying up would be the biggest achievement that we ever had at Bolton,” added Nolan.

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): Turnbull 7, Young 7, Wheater 7, Pogatetz 7, Taylor 6 (Rochemback, 73, 4), Aliadiere 5, Boateng 6, Arca 7, Downing 5, Tuncay 5 (Johnson, 63, 6), Alves 5.

Subs Not Used: Steele, Shawky, Grounds.

BOLTON (4-1-4-1): Al Habsi 8, Steinsson 7, Cahill 8, O’Brien 7, Samuel 6, Campo 7, Cohen 6 (Guthrie, 45, 7), McCann 7, Nolan 7, Taylor 8, Rasiak 5 (Diouf, 55, 7).

Subs Not Used: Walker, Stelios, Fojut.

REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 7. His judgement on three key penalty appeals proved sound. Unfussy and unflappable, he prefers the game to flow.

MATCH RATING: * A miserable way to spend a cold April afternoon. Bolton’s determination to cling on to made for a mind-numbing finale.