WANDERERS finished their season on a high, securing a ninth-placed finish with a superb 4-2 win against Fleetwood Town.

Ian Evatt’s side were forced to work hard for the result, Dion Charles levelling Barry Baggley’s well-taken opener with his first goal in 16 games for club and country just before half time.

The floodgates opened in the second half as Declan John put Bolton ahead, Joel Garner levelled for the visitors and then Bolton ran away with the points thanks to a freakish 40-yarder from Charles and an injury time effort from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

Wanderers had made two changes from the side which beat Cheltenham, replacing in the injured MJ Williams with George Thomason and adding Amadou Bakayoko for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

Although Fleetwood had League One survival as their aim, there was little riding on the outcome for Bolton and that went some way to explaining a disjointed and cumbersome start in possession.

Danny Andrew’s long throw for the visitors often posed problems and 19 minutes in, a failure to clear the bouncing ball led to Baggley nodding goalward, forcing James Trafford into a fine reaction save from close range.

Just a few minutes later the same player capitalised on a slip from George Johnston and turned to chip a perfect shot over Trafford and into the net for the opening goal.

Wanderers could not complain, having failed to get their passing game going to that stage. Fleetwood had the lead they desired and with Gillingham also trailing, had some extra insurance at the foot of the table, retreating immediately into a low block.

Johnston’s cavalier run through the middle briefly opened things up and though Charles could not bring the ball under his spell, he nudged the ball out to Kieran Sadlier, whose cross-shot was drilled way wide.

Declan John had a big penalty appeal turned down by referee Martin Coy after his cross appeared to bounce off the hand of Toto Nsiala.

The sense of injustice quickly faded, though, as ref Coy played a great advantage as Bakayoko helped on Gethin Jones’s pass to Charles, who bore down on Alex Cairns’s goal before slipping the ball under the keeper for his seventh Bolton goal of the season.

Wanderers might well have had a second before the break as Bakayoko caught John’s cross perfectly on his left foot but could only steer the ball into the side netting.

By the second half, the Whites had started to play the ball around with more purpose. Charles nipped in ahead of keeper Cairns after a good ball from Sadlier and claimed he was pulled back as he tried to get a shot on goal.

Again, there was no time to mope. Within a minute, Declan John cut in from the left to drive a shot with his right foot which beat Cairns via a slight deflection for his fifth of the season.

Fleetwood – knowing goals elsewhere could quickly destabilise their position - refused to die down.

Cian Hayes latched on to a long clearance over the top but could not beat Trafford, who quickly had the Bolton fans singing his name and demanding he stayed at the UniBol. Ever the professional, he consistently denied their calls for a wave, too!

Dapo Afolayan was on the hunt for his 15th goal of the season, having one shot charged down on the edge of the box. But the winger already knew he would finish as the club’s top scorer after nearest rival Bakayoko was replaced by Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

Fleetwood continued to press for an equaliser and got one with 10 minutes to go, ex-Preston striker Joel Garner forcing the ball over the line at close range from a corner.

The Fylde coast men might well have thought themselves home and dry by that stage but Charles – who had been a persistent thorn in the side of Tom Clarke and Toto Nsiala all day – would have the last laugh.

Hunting down possession 40 yards from goal he scored a freakish second goal of the game as a slide challenge ended up looping up over Cairns and into the unguarded net.

Still the visitors battled on, Danny Andrew hitting the bar a couple of minutes before the end.

Evatt was able to send on veteran defender Alex Baptiste for a late cameo – and potentially his last game for Bolton – moments before the end.

But there was still time for celebration. Aaron Morley’s injury-time shot fell into the path of Bodvarsson, the Icelander drilling in his seventh of the season for the Whites.