Wanderers 1, WEST BROM 1: THAT was more like the old Bolton.

Wanderers still have a long way to go in their rehabilitation but that second 45 minutes was a huge step in the right direction.

The first half was as bad as anything that has happened in the previous six straight defeats.

But their reaction to going a goal down at home to the Premiership's whipping boys was first class.

West Brom had everything going for them after scoring early and then setting out their stall to protect it with their lives.

The pressure built on Wanderers with every passing minute. But where Bolton have handled pressure badly of late, they coped with it admirably this time.

A flag in the crowd demanded some "bouncebackability" and Wanderers delivered as they built up an increasing head of steam which finally exploded in a moment of magic which produced their first goal in four games and the first one at home since November 13.

Ironically, the moment that changed the game in Wanderers' favour was when one of their best performers, Kevin Davies, was taken off with a hamstring injury 12 minutes into the second half.

The arrival of the pacey Ricardo Vaz Te and the switching of El-Hadji Diouf into the central attacking role brought about a change of tactics on which Wanderers thrived and West Brom found hard to handle.

Gone was the high ball to Davies which West Brom had covered and in its place came balls to the feet of Diouf, Kevin Nolan and Vaz Te with exciting results.

Nolan was Wanderers' biggest creative force with his twisting and turning causing regular panic in the Baggies defence.

He forged a glorious opening for Diouf which brought a vital save out of Russell Hoult and he should have won an 83rd minute penalty when his acrobatic overhead shot hit the hand of defender Ricardo Scimeca.

Wanderers' bad luck had also ensured Jay Jay Okochas free kick hit the bar 10 minutes earlier and, although they had a valiant and effective West Brom rocking, it looked like it was going to take something special to break their duck.

They got it a minute after the penalty disappointment when a slick move saw Ivan Campo's penetrating pass release Nicky Hunt who fired an inviting first time cross into the path of a grateful Diouf.

The Reebok roof was raised and the relief tangible after the suffering of such constant frustration during a demoralising previous three matches, all local derbies, which had brought no points, no goals and no positives.

The clinical strike was in stark contrast with the rest of Wanderers' finishing. For all their probing, they only seriously threatened the West Brom goal on four occasions - the goal, Okocha's free kick, Hoult's save from Diouf and a first half scramble which saw Diouf beat out a Davies shot and Darren Purse clear Okocha's follow-up shot off the line.

Too many shots were miscued, too many final balls wasted. In the first half they played right into the hands of West Brom's packed defence after Zoltan Gera beat Kevin Poole - at 41, the oldest player in the Premiership - with a 13th minute low shot from the edge of the box.

They should have been two down after 18 minutes when Rahdi Jaidi mistimed a header and Geoff Horsfield had the freedom of the penalty area only to thankfully blast his shot into the side netting.

The first half was littered with more of the wasted possession and wayward passing which had become a feature of their game recently and at half time it was not looking good.

But how Wanderers handled the pressure situation after that gave cause for optimism - the first for a long time.

Where plunging confidence and jangling nerves had been a problem in recent games, suddenly Wanderers were standing up and being counted.

They rose to the challenge, went at West Brom at every opportunity and got better the longer the game went on.

It might only be a point at home against the poorest side in the division. But it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders.