WE were up at dawn for the long trip to the Cherry Red Records Stadium in Kingston-upon-Thames to face the Wombles of AFC Wimbledon.

A full English breakfast at Norton Canes helped us along the way. At least one supporter donned a face mask to protect himself against the coronavirus. Hopefully, the virus will be contained and the government won’t have to implement lockdown measures. The Bolton fans singing ‘Happy Birthday dear coronavirus’ in unison while washing their hands was a site to behold.

We were invited into the Your Golf Travel.com bar to have a pre-match drink and a friendly chat with the long-suffering Wimbledon fans.

Over the years they have risen from non-league football to the heights of the Premier League and a FA Cup final and then lost their ground and eventually their club. This is the fan-owned reformed club and they are hoping to move into their new ground at their ancestral home of Plough Lane next season.

We even had a surprise visit from our chief executive Emma Beaugeard, who was looking for the directors’ box. We hoped that she would find her way but if she didn’t, she was most welcome to drink with us.

Keith Hill brought back Ethan Hamilton and Ryan Delaney, meaning that the latter would have played for both sides against the other this season. Pre-match handshakes were banned but surprisingly spitting wasn’t.

Bolton played well in the first half and although Wimbledon came back into it in the second, we got a fully deserved first away point of 2020.

It was another patched-up squad with several players still trying to get match fit and a welcome first glimpse of Anthony Georgiou, so a bit of credit where credit is due to Messrs Hill and Flitcroft.

We are down but everyone still has something to play for, whether their future is with Bolton Wanderers or not.

The announcements this week about the demise of the u-23s and the downgrading of the youth academy certainly got our fans talking.

Mostly it was positive in that it was seen as the first steps in rebuilding our club. Let’s see what happens at the senior level over the summer.

“We’re still under embargo next season, so the priority will be to stop the slide and become a team of winners again.