Wanderers are only a few steps from Wembley again – all thanks to an unlikely goalscoring hero.

Elias Kachunga had gone 20 games since his last goal for Bolton and while his work off the ball has often been praised by Ian Evatt, his low numbers have been a constant topic of discussion among the Bolton fans.

It was his goal, however, that settled an entertaining second round tie that should realistically have been a lot more comfortable for Ian Evatt’s side than it proved to be in the end.

Dapo Afolayan and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson had established a deserved 2-0 lead before the visitors capitalised on a couple of good breaks from the officials, and some poor defending/goalkeeping, to make a real game of it well into the second half.

Wanderers made nine changes from the side which beat Fleetwood at the weekend, which meant recalls for fringe men like Declan John, Eoin Toal, Kieran Sadlier and Joel Dixon.

Despite the relatively unfamiliar mix, the football was quite smooth. Sadlier provided good width as a right wing-back, not to mention a handful of good crosses, and Dion Charles looked in rambunctious mood as he looked for a goal to spark off his own season again.

The Northern Ireland international had only scored once in his previous nine games but was picked out by two excellent early crosses from Sadlier and Kyle Dempsey, failing to get a telling touch.

Dempsey’s evening ended prematurely, the midfielder’s wretched run of bad luck in a Bolton shirt continuing as he limped off with 20 minutes gone. His replacement, Afolayan, was riding high on the confidence of his weekend winner at Highbury and immediately got in on the action again.

A fine angled ball from MJ Williams turned defenders Niall Canavan and Patrick Brough towards their own goal, and as the Barrow men dithered, Afolayan nipped in to nod the ball past a prone Paul Farman to open the scoring.

The former West Ham man then led the charge for a second. A fine run of some 40 yards ended with a blocked shot that nearly ran for Bodvarsson, and another dart down the left created a chance for Sadlier at the far post, his effort blocked by Brough.

The pressure continued. Jack Iredale brought a good save out of Farman low to his right with a cracking shot from the edge of the penalty box, and not 60 seconds later, the second goal finally arrived.

Afolayan picked out Sadlier with a great ball to the far post, he drilled a low pass across goal, and Bodvarsson finished calmly from the angle. It was a goal of remarkable simplicity but also ruthless efficiency and it should have meant the end of the game as a contest.

Barrow’s travelling support was relatively small in number but loud in voice. They had little to cheer in an attacking sense until George Ray headed just over the bar with 10 minutes of the half remaining.

There had been a couple of flutters of panic as Joel Dixon came to collect high balls on the very edge of his penalty area but, in the main, the Cumbrians were also rans up to a few minutes before the interval.

Wanderers had possession deep in their own half and Afolayan looked to have been wrestled off the ball, allowing Ben Whitfield to drive into the penalty box – his bouncing shot was spilled by Dixon, and then buried into the net by Josh Kay.

Dixon’s role in the mess will no doubt be scrutinised. The former Barrow stopper rarely looked comfortable, his performance doing little to quieten the critics.

That gave the League Two side some hope. And after a fairly cagey start to the second half they found an equaliser.

Once again, Bolton might argue that the corner that led to Barrow’s second shouldn’t actually have been given. Joel Dixon claimed he had prevented the ball from going behind the line after Whitfield’s shot had been saved – but the linesman on the opposite side of the pitch disagreed.

From the corner, Wanderers switched off. A flick on at the near post giving defender Canavan a chance he could not miss from four yards out.

When Evatt looked to the bench for a goal to re-establish the lead, some attacking inspiration, Elias Kachunga might not have been the first name on supporters’ lips.

The former Huddersfield Town man had scored only once before this season – that against Salford City in the League Cup – and had put only his second league shot on target at Fleetwood on Saturday. Nevertheless, he was in the right spot to tap in the third goal when Farman had pushed Afolayan’s shot on to the post with 20 minutes left.

Barrow did not surrender. Josh Gordon had a golden chance to equalise again but had his goalbound shot deflected over the bar by Toal. The Bluebirds also claimed handball against Afolayan after a scramble in the box – their over-zealous appeals turned down by ref Rebecca Welch.

Wanderers had a few half-chances to grab a fourth. Ricardo Santos went close with a shot from the edge of the box – which would have been some collector’s item – and the ever-dangerous Afolayan had another decent effort pushed away by Farman.

Six minutes of added time offered Barrow some incentive. Bolton still looked in control, however, and Kachunga might have helped himself to a second, having one goal ruled out for offside and another goal-bound effort blocked by Ray.