The aptly-named referee Kevin Friend was roundly booed at the end of Wanderers' action-packed 2-2 draw against Birmingham.

Whites' fans reserved their standing ovation for stand-in keeper Adam Bogdan — but it was the controversial ref we should have been applauding.

Yes, he red carded Jussi Jasskeleinen — for which he really had no choice — but he also practically gifted us two goals.

It probably was just about a foul on Kevin Davies for the penalty, but those decisions are not often given, especially at the Reebok where spot kicks are about as rare as 30-yard screamers from Fabrice Muamba.

And God only knows what the man in the middle was thinking when he awarded a bizarre free kick for Bolton with just 10 minutes left on the clock.

When he blew his whistle as Gary Cahill jumped up for a header on the edge of the box, there was an audible groan around the ground, as pretty much every Wanderers fan there assumed he was stopping play for a foul by our centre back.

But the jeers quickly turned to cheers when the ref pointed towards the Birmingham goal and Robbie Blake rifled home the resulting free kick.

Both the penalty and the free kick were soft decisions made by a referee who had 20,000 angry home fans on his back — not that I'm complaining — on this occasion, the fans needed to be Wanderers' 11th man.

Because before those two crucial calls, Whites had looked unlikely to force their way back into the game, despite a decent amount of pressure.

Amazingly, we still might have lost the game 3-2 were it not for Ron Weasley lookalike Bogdan pulling off a magical save with just seconds left on the clock.

The rookie keeper did everything that could be asked of him on his Premier League debut and has been rewarded with the faith of his manager, who has said he will stick with Bogdan during Jussi’s three-match ban.

Thankfully, entertaining as they were, the days of outfield players donning the goalkeeper's jersey, when he is injured or sent off, are long gone.

There is not a chance Whites would have pulled a result out of the hat on Sunday with, say, Chung-Yong Lee in goal.

Although I still have fond memories of the time Keith Branagan saw red and was replaced by Super John McGinlay.

If memory serves me correctly, Super John had already scored the opening goal of the game against Reading at Burnden Park, and after an heroic stint between the sticks from the striker, Wanderers went on to win 1-0.

Branagan ran back onto the pitch at the end of the game to hold McGinlay aloft. It was true Roy of the Rovers stuff ... happy days.