FIVE YEARS AGO: Sam Allardyce threw down the gauntlet to his Bolton players after a 1-0 defeat at Liverpool put a serious dent in their already slim hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Big Sam laid it on the line, insisting that while prospects of a top-four finish had receded, he would settle for nothing less than a UEFA Cup place.

And, typical of that spirited Whites squad, they not only accepted the challenge but turned in such an emphatic performance in a 3-1 victory over Fulham at the Reebok that they might yet overtake Liverpool and even leap-frog fourth-placed Everton.

“We’re back in there fighting, back in the frame,” Allardyce said after banking three vital points.

“We’ve got six games to go and we’re right back in the running again.”

Kevin Nolan played a major role in the win, scoring the second goal and laying on the third for Stelios after Jay Jay Okocha had given Wanderers a 13th-minute lead from a penalty awarded after former Reebok favourite Claus Jensen had been sent off for handling Bruno N’Gotty’s header on the line.

“We’ve shown the Premiership that we mean business,” Nolan enthused.

“It’s fantastic that so many people wrote us off and now we’re just a point behind Liverpool and five behind Everton and still going strong.

“We’ve still got a long way to go but, hopefully, whether it’s the Champions League or the UEFA Cup, we’ll be celebrating.”

Manchester City, under caretaker manager Stuart Pearce, did Wanderers a favour when they beat Liverpool 1-0 with a last-gasp winner from Kiki Musampa.

Manchester United, already trailing Chelsea and Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title, left Carrow Road with their tails between their legs after losing 2-0 to bottom club Norwich.

Sir Alex Ferguson refused to comment – even to United’s own TV station – after second-half goals from Dean Ashton and Leon McKenzie embarrassed the Reds, but skipper Gary Neville warned his team-mates that they should “fear for their places”.

“We have to win football matches,” Neville said. “If we don’t we have a manager who will do something about it.”

Bury came from behind to draw 2-2 at Kidderminster – a point that effectively eradicated any threat of relegation to the Conference.

Ricky Shakes, on loan from Wanderers, was the hero with an injury-time header.

Across the Atlantic, Tiger Woods ended a run of 10 majors without a win by claiming his fourth US Masters title.

Woods, who sank a 15-foot birdie putt to beat fellow American Chris DiMarco at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off, dedicated the victory to his father who was in hospital.

Leigh Centurions suffered a 60-16 beating at St Helens, which could have been even more embarrassing had they not produced a spirited second-half performance after trailing 46-0 at the interval.

25 YEARS AGO: It was a case of one step forward two steps back for Charlie Wright’s relegation-haunted Wanderers.

Three days after easing the pressure with a 1-0 victory over local rivals Wigan at Burnden Park, courtesy of a Jeff Chandler penalty, they appeared to have secured a second successive win when they stormed into a 3-1 half-time lead at Orient.

After six-and-a-half years and 26 games without a win in London, two Chandler goals either side of a Simon Rudge strike threatened to end the capital hoodoo.

But they blew it, losing 4-3 and leaving a furious Wright to describe the second-half performance as a “nightmare”. Orient manager Frank Clark, delighted to have secured three safety points predicted the battle to beat the drop into Division Four would go the distance.

Wigan, meanwhile, bounced back from the Burnden defeat with a 2-1 win against Burnley – two more clubs in the relegation mix.

Wayne Entwistle scored the only goal as Martin Dobson’s Bury beat Hartlepool 1-0 at Gigg Lane to stay top of Division Four.

Already-relegated, Leigh’s situation went from bad to worse when they crashed to their 20th league defeat of the season, 26-8 at Warrington.

Manager Alex Murphy was ordered from the dugout, second-row man Tony Cottrell was sent off, winger Phil Fox suffered a broken jaw and forward Roy Howarth was taken to hospital badly concussed.

50 YEARS AGO: A goal from Dennis Stevens and a Roy Hartle penalty earned Wanderers a 2-1 win against their old Lancashire rivals Preston.

But the Bolton supporters in the crowd of 30,000 were far from happy – not with the performance of the players but with the referee, Yorkshireman Mr J Cook.

Almost every decision he made went against the majority opinion, much to the frustration of the players whose performances suffered accordingly.

And such was the discontent on the terraces that, as a crowd of angry youngsters gathered outside Burnden, police were called to keep order while Mr Cook was smuggled out of an exit at the Embankment end.

Tom Finney put Preston in front on 35 minutes but the legendary England international’s influence was on the wane, judging by the match report which suggested “the years are beginning to tell, in more ways than one.”

Another sporting legend, Great Britain RL winger Billy Boston, was at the peak of his powers, scoring six tries in Wigan’s resounding 58-6 win against Dewsbury.

Even though bad weather affected the attendance, the Holcombe Hunt point to point meeting attracted a crowd of 50,000.

The racing was top class, though, and, for once, it was the bookies who took a beating with one admitting: “It was a bad day for us.”