THEY were awful in the rain for about an hour, so Devon knows we’re miserable now.

While not quite the complete and utter washout of the weekend, Wanderers were definitely second best at Home Park and now have some serious repair work to do this weekend at home to Gillingham.

Brendan Galloway and Conor Grant gave table-topping Plymouth a 2-0 lead at the break, and such was Bolton’s powderpuff defending, it could and should have been more.

Things improved in the second half and it was only when the ridiculous conditions worsened to turn the game into a primary school kickabout that Ryan Broom scooped in a third for the Pilgrims, who looked every inch a team capable of reaching the Championship.

Evatt promised to make big calls after Saturday and when the team-sheet was handed over to referee Keith Stroud, he certainly delivered on his promise.

Plymouth old boy, and club skipper, Antoni Sarcevic was dropped to the bench, potentially still feeling the effects of an ankle injury, as was last season’s top goal-scorer and attacking talisman, Eoin Doyle.

Ricardo Santos was also suspended, which gave opportunities to Alex Baptiste, Lloyd Isgrove and Kieran Lee – back from injury after missing the Wigan defeat.

The rain had lashed down to such an extent that referee Keith Stroud and his team gave the pitch an ‘unofficial’ check to make sure it was playable. Sadly, considering the way the first half panned out, it most certainly was.

Plymouth were the only side who looked comfortable in the awkward conditions, though, and as Wanderers continued to try and play out from the back, the home side simply picked off the mistakes.

Within six minutes Bolton had been pinned back by a succession of corners, falling behind when a third landed nicely for Brendan Galloway to turn in from close range after escaping captain-for-the-night George Johnston’s attention.

The Whites very briefly looked like they would muster a response as Pilgrims keeper Michael Cooper rushed bravely off his line to stifle Dapo Afolayan’s progress after he had latched on to Harry Brockbank’s pass.

Within a few minutes, the home side had doubled their lead. Whether dazzled by the pre-match light show at Home Park, or vision blurred by the incessant rain, Bolton’s defenders seemed reluctant to close down Conor Grant 10 yards outside the box, and his shot skidded off the turf to beat Dixon to his left, nestling into the net in front of the 600-plus travelling fans.

Isgrove – once again one of Wanderers’ more positive players - flashed a dangerous ball across the goal in front of a static Bakayoko and then tested Cooper with a shot from distance.

But each and every time Plymouth attacked, they did so with purpose and in number. Brockbank and Baptiste both made important blocks to prevent Ryan Hardie and Joe Edwards from scoring a third.

Had Hardie been slightly more selfish he may have finished off a good move down the left but in trying to square the ball to Panutche Camara, he allowed Johnston to get a challenge in.

Dixon also blocked a snapshot from Edwards after another flowing move from right to left which had the home fans purring about their club being top of the league.

At 2-0, and despite Plymouth’s dominance, the psychology of the game could easily have shifted had Bolton grabbed themselves a goal back quickly after the restart.

Afolayan brought a couple of saves out of Cooper after drifting off both wings in that familiar fashion but his own frustration with how things were going became obvious when he picked up a needless booking for dissent after tangling with Galloway off the ball.

Sarcevic did make his entrance to warm applause from the home fans just after the hour mark as Evatt looked to shake something loose.

Instead, Plymouth came within a whisker of adding a third and killing the game off stone dead. Camara bounced a shot off the base of the post and Hardie had another effort blocked by Dixon at his near post.

Wanderers then threw Eoin Doyle and Elias Kachunga for Lee and Bakayoko, and suddenly looked like they could take advantage of the let-off they had been given.

Afolayan had another effort blocked close in, and Sarcevic seemed to have the goal at his mercy when he burst into the penalty box from the left wing, but could only arrow a shot wide, much to the delight of his formerly adoring Devon public.

The second half performance was unquestionably better than the first but still far from Bolton at their swaggering best, a la Charlton or Ipswich.

As the rain drove even heavier in the final 10 minutes there was a flicker of hope that the game might get called off after all, as the ball started to get caught up in some of the surface water. Alas, that pesky Home Park groundsman had done enough.

Doyle had one brief chance at the far post which appeared to be deflected wide of the post. At the other end, sub Luke Jephcott poked a shot just wide.

By the end, the rain had created farcical conditions. Players could barely move the ball six yards without it stopping dead but, evidently, the Bolton players continued to try and play intricate football.

From their own throw the Whites ended up conceding a comical third as Broom seized on a bad pass to Baptiste, then beat the onrushing Dixon with a punt through the puddle.

He over-ran the ball but Hardie followed up, also tripping over in the mud, before Broom then scooped the ball into the roof of the net past a clutter of arms and legs on the line to leave home fans singing in the rain.