The Bolton News:

DAVID Cross arrived at Wanderers in the summer of 1985 with a CV packed choc-full of goals for the likes of Manchester City, Coventry and West Ham.

It was hoped that the striker, brought in from West Brom by Charlie Wright among a clutch of experienced new signings, could help Bolton find the consistency they lacked the previous season in a disappointing 17th placed finish in Division Three.

Wright had used his limited budget to add ex-Scotland man Asa Hartford, bring Sam Allardyce back for a second spell at Burnden – more than five years after his first - and wise defensive heads Derek Scott and Dave Sutton, in what was a new accent in older players in the squad.

And after new boy Cross scored twice in a 4-1 League Cup win against Rotherham United, the new-look Bolton side travelled to Doncaster’s Belle Vue in a positive frame of mind.

After missing the first two games of the season through suspension, Allardyce was handed his first start since returning to the club, replacing the injured Mark Came, as Wright gambled on the older heads getting a result in South Yorkshire.

Cross came up trumps again – his goal securing a 1-1 draw and ensuring the undefeated start to the season continued through the Bank Holiday weekend.

He scored again in the following game against Bury at Burnden – but the rampant Shakers capitalised on a lack of energy in Wanderers’ ageing ranks, rattling four past Simon Farnworth, and signalling the start of a poor spell which would ultimately lead to Wright’s departure by early December.

Nat Lofthouse held the fort while the Bolton board decided on his replacement, and though ex-Manchester City man John Bond had been the name most often linked, it would be Liverpool great Phil Neal who took the post.

Neal had turned down the chance to manage Grimsby the previous month but agreed with Wanderers chairman Neal Riley to become the sixth manager in six years at Burnden, crucially prolonging a playing career which had seen him collect a plethora of trophies in his days at Anfield.

The player-manager route had not worked with John McGovern a couple of years earlier but Riley was convinced that Neal was the right pick.

“We had to decide on whether to go for a new face in management or someone more old school but I am sure that Phil’s experience as a player can prove vital this season,” he said.

Neal’s first game would be at home to Doncaster Rovers, and after appointing his former Liverpool team-mate Colin Irwin as his new assistant, the new boss kept fans guessing as to whether he would pick himself in the starting line-up for the last game before Christmas.

He did. And Bolton fans were impressed with the first glimpse they got of the former England defender.

Once again it was Cross who did the damage with two goals, taking him to nine for the season, but it was Neal’s committed display at full-back which had BEN reporter Gordon Sharrock comparing him to ‘Action Man’ in his match report.

Neal left the pitch rain soaked and bloodied, requiring three stitches in a head wound, and having brought the best save of the day from Rovers keeper Andy Rhodes.

The boss, however, was keen to take none of the credit.

“I have not done a thing today and I have told them that,” he said.

“It is all down to them. They came up trumps and battled every bit of the way and that is all you can ask.”

Neal’s part in the victory, to any one of the 4,546 who watched the game, was quite clear to see.

It had been his quick thinking in the 42nd minute, latching on to a quick free-kick from Hartford, which led to Cross’s opening goal.

The cross-shot caught keeper Rhodes in two minds and allowed the striker to nip in for his first goal in three months.

Rhodes looked to be in even more bother a few minutes later when he collided with Tony Caldwell, forcing Rovers’ player-boss Dave Cusack to grab the gloves for the last few minutes of the half.

A pain-killing injection at the interval allowed Rhodes to continue and the Bolton fans applauded his bravery when he pulled off a brilliant save from Neal in the 57th minute.

The game was put to bed shortly afterwards as Micky Stead’s penalty area clearance bounced off Cross and into the net, leaving the keeper helpless.

Wanderers: Farnworth, Scott, Neal, Joyce, Came, Sutton, Thompson, Caldwell, Cross (Rudge 79), Hartford, Bell.