Bolton Wanderers 3-2 Leyton Orient - Full time match report

Cruising at 3-0 thanks to early goals from Josh Dacres-Cogley, Dion Charles and George Thomason, Bolton seemingly had three festive points wrapped up by half time.

But the nerves kicked in once Shaqui Forde had put his side on the scoreboard early in the second half, and Theo Archibald’s blockbusting left-footed strike made for an uneasy last half-hour.

Wanderers made it in the end – but not without making three vital blocks in front of the their own goal in stoppage time.

It was night and day compared to the free-flowing, inventive football they had played in the opening stages.

It is hard to recall in recent memory a more explosive start made by a Bolton side, with three unanswered goals scored within 10 minutes of kick-off.

Dacres-Cogley started the procession, running on to a clever reverse ball from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and stroking his second goal of the campaign under Sol Brynn.

Charles doubled the lead on seven minutes, hassling a mistake out of Jordan Brown on the right side of the penalty box and then slotting home his first league goal since the seven-goal rout of Exeter City.

When Charles played Thomason through the middle to score the third a few minutes later, it suggested another big score could be on the cards.

Wanderers had chances to extend their lead – Bodvarsson should have converted Dacres-Cogley’s low cross before a panicky clearance from Dan Happe bounced off his own goalkeeper.

Another centre from Jack Iredale on the left dropped invitingly for the Icelander moments later but also went unpunished.

Charles had an even better chance just before half time when a careless backpass from Happe put him clean through on goal, only for the striker to get it badly wrong at the finish, his shot drifting wide of the post.

Richie Wellens made a couple of substitutions at the break, including the introduction of ex-Bolton skipper Darren Pratley, and the O’s instantly looked more convincing.

Ten minutes into the second half, Shaqui Forde finished off Theo Archibald’s cross from the left and the mood of the game changed completely.

Archibald then brought the East Londonders back to within a goal – an impressive left-footed finish from the edge of the box into the top corner.

From being first to every loose ball, Wanderers suddenly looked rattled. Their fans tried to roar them out of their slumber and with 20 minutes to go, Thomason nearly found an opening on the right side of the box, forcing a scrambling save from keeper Brynn.

But the points looked nowhere near secure as the game rolled into the latter stages, with Evatt only looking to his bench to change things with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Subs Cameron Jerome and Victor Adeboyejo nearly combined at the bitter end to score a fourth – the latter just crowded out by Happe before getting a shot away.

Leyton Orient continued to pour forward in search of a famous comeback and they nearly snatched one during five minutes of stoppage time as Forde and Omar Beckles had efforts cleared on the line by Jerome and Will Forrester.

With the last attack of the game Josh Sheehan got in the way of a stab at goal from Pratley that would surely have made its way into the net.