THERE will at least be 14 Boltonians with bittersweet memories of Saturday’s thrilling 2-2 draw between Wanderers and Brighton.

Dale Stephens – very much Bolton born and bred – looked like he had put Chris Hughton’s side on their way to victory when he buried the opening goal at the Macron.

The former Bury midfielder had more than a dozen family members watching in the stands, all of whom are Wanderers supporters.

So while there may have been some divided loyalties, Stephens did at least manage to keep the peace when Gary Madine levelled late on.

“I had 14 tickets for the family,” he said. “They are all Bolton fans apart from when Brighton play against them. My nan said ‘make sure you score’ so that one's for her.”

Stephens could not hide his disappointment, however, feeling that Brighton had done enough to win the game.

“We are frustrated,” he said. “When you concede so late in any game it is hard to swallow.

“We had enough chances to win a game but unfortunately we could only get a point.

“We thought we’d done enough.”

The dismissal of Jamie Murphy tipped the scales slightly in Wanderers’ favour and Stephens stuck up for his team-mate, claiming it had not been an intentional foul on Neil Danns.

“They went direct after the sending off and played to their strengths and that paid off for them in the end,” he said.

“At the time I didn’t think it was a sending off at all. I think he quite clearly slipped. Decisions go against you but they even out over the season.”