WANDERERS 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1

By Marc Iles

ADDED time has been no friend to Neil Lennon since he took charge at Bolton Wanderers.

Last season the slightest hint of the fourth official’s board brought his team out in a panic, which led to so many dropped points.

But as the 11th hour approached on Saturday against Nottingham Forest, Lennon was already staring a most undeserved defeat square in the face.

The fact it would be at the hands of former manager Dougie Freedman was incidental – but you wonder just what psychological damage would have been done had David Vaughan’s screamer remained decisive?

Enter Stephen Dobbie.

It had been 126 days, and quite literally 11 hours of football since someone celebrated a competitive goal for Wanderers. That same sense of hysteria had gripped the team every time they approached the penalty box.

Thankfully, Dobbie – a wily Glaswegian with a penchant for the spectacular – didn’t need to venture that far.

A clever lay-off from Mark Davies, a casual strike into the bottom corner, and everything was rosy in the garden again.

A weight has now been lifted off the Whites. And had Dobbie’s goal materialised earlier than the 94th minute you would certainly have backed them to go on and win comfortably.

But Lennon knows full well that he still has issues to sort, not least in an attacking sense.

Wellington Silva came in for an encouraging debut and looked willing to take the charge to Forest every time he received the ball.

He was the brightest spark of a dull first half but was matched after half time by Liam Feeney, who came off the bench for Tom Walker – a youngster who is suffering a little with second season syndrome.

Zach Clough falls into the same category as his former academy team-mate. For every flash of his genuine skill there is a moment of over-elaboration, or rushing the final product. He is so eager to make a difference for Wanderers that it is holding him back.

A good chance fell his way just before the interval as Walker swung in a superb free kick, only for his header to bounce disappointingly wide.

Alongside Clough, Gary Madine’s torture has been even more visible.

The former Sheffield Wednesday from man battered Wanderers old boy Matt Mills and defensive partner Jack Hobbs with little reward until Clough won a 51st minute penalty, a gift in the circumstances.

The quality of the spot kick was such that Dorus De Vries hardly had to shift his weight to push the ball away, and as Madine stood hands-on-head in disappointment, you had to wonder if he will ever get an easier chance to open his account at Bolton?

To his credit, the target man continued to work tirelessly and did not hide away. In fact Lennon can be justifiably pleased with the character shown by his side after that set-back, and an even bigger one that was to arrive in the 81st minute.

Forest’s game-plan had been to work the ball to the dangerous Michail Antonio, with plan B to punt a direct ball towards plucky young striker Tyler Walker.

Whether Freedman’s pragmatic approach pleases the purists in the East Midlands is not for me to say. His squad is decimated by injury, so perhaps give him the benefit of doubt?

The Scot had been booed by the Whites fans every time he stepped into his technical area, so in that sense little has changed. He seems to have stepped from one financially challenging environment at the Macron into another at the City Ground – and there was a familiarly uninspiring look about the way Forest went about their business with a safety first approach.

Wanderers certainly coped comfortably with anything the visitors had thrown at them, the defensive partnership of Prince and Dorian Dervite looking solid once again and full-backs Dean Moxey and Lawrie Wilson enjoying their best game of the season so far.

Forest’s main threats this season have been from out wide but with those options nullified, they were coasting towards a draw until Vaughan picked the ball up 30 yards out and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top corner with nine minutes left to play.

All of a sudden, Madine’s penalty and the half-chances that had fallen to Clough, Neil Danns and Dervite earlier in the game looked oh so costly.

Lennon waited even longer to see if Clough could produce some magic and it wasn’t until the 90th minute when that fourth official’s board went up showing five extra minutes that he called on Dobbie.

The former Crystal Palace and Blackpool striker looked sharp in pre-season and won a contract against the odds in many respects after first appearing as an uncelebrated trialist in Austria.

He has been limited to late cameos so far this season but when Wanderers so desperately needed a break, it was his instinctive finish from 20 yards out that finally broke the curse.

Some fans had already filed towards the exit, possibly knowing that there has been little to enjoy in injury time at the Macron these last few years.

But this time they missed a treat. The surge of relief that filled the ground once Dobbie’s shot nestled into the bottom corner was a memorable one.

It was a point when Wanderers should probably have grabbed all three, but that didn’t make it any less sweet.

There should be a much more positive frame of mind going into Friday’s Lancashire derby against Blackburn Rovers, whose managerial situation once again looks up in the air.

That elusive first win still eludes Lennon’s side – but you sense that Dobbie’s late goal might just be a step in the right direction.