FOR the first time in a long while, fans were looking forward to a Wanderers match with confidence, built up on the back of improving performances and a three-match unbeaten run for Ian Evatt’s side.

We were taking on a team who have changed their name more times than Prince, formerly known as Orient and now back to Leyton Orient, at the Breyer Group stadium, formerly known as Brisbane Road.

As fans are still banned from attending matches, this was yet another ground that I could not tick off my list of grounds that I have been to.

However, I was kindly invited to join the Wanderers Live show at Radio Bolton FM, with Chris Hajdar and Neal Stallard.

This was really enjoyable as it was a chance to watch the match in company, albeit socially distanced and, as it turned out, suffer together.

It was also fascinating to see the inside of a radio studio and enjoy talking about football together and chatting with the fans who called in.

Evatt named an unchanged team for the first time this season and all looked good until the referee blew his whistle.

Everything went downhill fast from the kick-off with an awful back pass leading to a penalty against us in the first minute, setting the tone for the match.

It is no use calling individuals out for having a stinker, they were all as bad as one another today.

The whole team and management must take collective responsibility for this debacle.

I am struggling to take any positives from this match but at least the fans did not have to endure a long journey in awful weather conditions to witness this Halloween horror show.

This performance was reminiscent of a match against Scarborough in 1987, the only other time we were in the bottom league, when we had a rude awakening as we were thumped 4-0 by a young Neil Warnock’s men.

We bounced back with three wins on the trot.

There were ups and down throughout, but we grew as the season developed and finished strongly to clinch promotion at the last match at Wrexham.

Now we need to bounce back and take our disappointments out on Mansfield on Tuesday.

One match is not going to make or break our season.

It is a marathon not a sprint. The worse thing was that our loved ones thought we were enjoying ourselves.