THINGS can only get better was very much the main theme at our pre-match discussions at the 7 Stars Oktoberfest.

No goals in Stoptember and beyond, no league win since our League One days, the worst start in living memory and not so much as adrift but marooned at the bottom of the Championship, with unwanted records being broken with every match.

Dark days indeed but you shouldn’t be a football fan if you’re not an optimist. Two encouraging performances at Bristol City and Aston Villa with Karl Henry in the trenches for us and our injury list beginning to clear up, generated gut feelings from Harwood to Australia that this could be the day that our season starts. Josh Vela was back in the starting XI and the crowd was up for it from the first whistle.

We started like we meant business, challenging for every ball and pinning Sheffield Wednesday back. The moment we’d all been waiting for came after 10 minutes when Sammy Ameobi smashed one in from 25 yards. He doesn’t do tap-ins and it was just what we needed, some reward for our efforts. The second goal was a mis-hit corner, deflected in by, well, anybody’s guess. For once, we got the breaks. Sheffield Wednesday had a good shout for a penalty but Kieran Lee was booked for diving. The referee was a lot closer than me and the Wednesday players didn’t protest.

Ben Alnwick earned his keep with a couple of superb saves but we could have been out of sight with the chances we created and Gary Madine must be wondering what he has to do to score.

It was a cracking game of football which the referee didn’t seem to want to end, adding six extra minutes on, which turned into more than nine minutes with what looked like a serious injury to Jordan Rhodes. Best wishes to Jordan for a speedy recovery. Every tackle and every headed clearance was cheered as the Wanderers fans roared the team to a much-needed and overdue victory.

We looked like a Championship team, more than matching Sheffield Wednesday for pace and effort.

Hopefully we’ve kick-started our season. We’ve still got lots to work on but the Bolton spirit was out there, both on and off the pitch, giving hope that we can stay in this division as we recover from the past.