THE game was a draw but beforehand Sam Allardyce had suggested it would be lessons learned about the players coming in for a rare first team opportunity which would be the important feature of this FA Cup tie writes Richard Mulligan

For the record, only Michael Ricketts and Anthony Barness who began the Premiership game versus Aston Villa on New Year's Day retained their starting positions against Sunderland.

That was something of a shock in itself, in that Ricketts and Barness had both had a busy Christmas and could have each maybe expected a day off for the visit of Howard Wilkinson's side.

While Gareth Farrelly returned from injury and Ivan Campo beefed up the defence - he was suspended for the previous game - the rest of the team was made up of players that have rarely started games for Wanderers.

For that reason the draw with Sunderland was an almighty success, and perhaps Allardyce would concede that his squad is not as lightweight as he has often suggested.

Yes, it was 'only' the FA Cup. Yes, Sunderland were suffering with injuries. Yes, both bosses had admitted they were more concerned about finishing fourth from bottom in the league than progressing in the world's oldest football competition.

But this was Premiership opposition, and for that reason who is to say the likes of Delroy Facey, Jeff Smith, Danny Livesey and Nicky Hunt cannot do a job in the league.

Smith stole the show from the off with the kind of dazzling work down the left you might have expected from one of the great wing wizards of the past.

The most pleasing thing about his performance was that it was such a shock to see a player, who himself admits to a lack of confidence on the big stage, really take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Playing with the number 34 on his back might not mean that much these days with some Premiership squads heading towards three figures, but Smith has been something of an outcast at Wanderers since he joined from Bishop Auckland in 2001.

Until Saturday he had made two league appearances for Bolton and featured against Bury in the Worthington Cup earlier this season.

He was helped by the disturbance to Sunderland's right-back position with Stephen Wright and replacement Mark Rossiter leaving the field through injury in the first half.

As early as the ninth minute he skipped past Wright and made his way to the bye-line. He delivered a low cross to the near post which would have caused Sunderland a lot of damage if Ricketts and Facey had attacked it.

Then in the 17th minute a Smith corner found the head of Ricketts, who leapt above Jody Craddock, and knocked in his fourth goal in the last fortnight to put Wanderers ahead.

It looked like a move formulated on the training ground, but how often would Smith be used for his corners with some of the other set-piece specialists around?

Ten minutes later and another inch-perfect whipped cross from Smith found the head of Ricketts but this time he could only hit the side-netting.

For the rest of the game he continued to run rings around Sunderland's third right-back of the day Joachim Bjorklund, and in the second half caused more chaos with crosses to the front two.

He also hit the target on a few occasions with shots of his own, forcing a good save from Jurgen Macho with a driven effort in the 66th minute after he had beaten Michael Proctor on the flank.

The other major success story of the day was Facey, who deserves full credit for an industrious performance alongside Ricketts.

He seems an unselfish player, and one always looking to create chances for those around him.

But he also had a few efforts himself, and really should have doubled Bolton's lead after beating Phil Babb for pace in the 28th minute.

Having done the hard part and with just Macho to beat, he went off-track with a poor touch but ultimately did well to get in a shot.

Similarly Bulent Akin showed the 10,123 gathered that he is more than just a suspension and an injury, with a slick range of passing and movement in the anchor man role of midfield.

Danny Livesey looked comfortable for the majority of the game, in a back three with Campo and skipper Barness.

He seemed to have the measure of ex-England striker Kevin Phillips, and the potential aerial threat of Kevin Kyle and Tore Andre Flo failed to trouble the steady Kevin Poole in goal.

Livesey would have been disappointed to leave the field in the 73rd when Allardyce made a triple substitution, but by that time Bolton were fighting to stay in the game and needed the added experience and quality of Mike Whitlow, Kevin Nolan and Jay Jay Okocha.

Phillips had equalised ten minutes previously with a header from a John Oster cross. Oster had received possession on the left flank from a weak Barness header, then played a one-two with George McCartney before finding Phillips, who had ghosted in on the right.

Phillips could have won the game in the closing minutes when he found himself through on goal when Barness missed a header, but he was stopped with a magnificent saving tackle from Nicky Hunt, the 19-year-old right wing-back who was making his first start.

BALL RACE: Mike Whitlow tries to fend off Kevin Phillips