SORRY Father Christmas, I finished off the sherry to steady my nerves.

Watching the trials and tribulations of Bolton Wanderers during 2023 has been eventful but rarely this buttock-clenching.

Three up after 10 minutes, playing dreamy football befitting any team with aspirations of promotion, there was no hint whatsoever of the drama that was to follow.

Josh Dacres-Cogley, Dion Charles and George Thomason scored in a procession of invention and pace that unravelled the visiting defence. Wanderers should have been further ahead by half time, too, especially with Charles spurning a one-on-one with keeper Sol Brynn.

Ian Evatt’s side had thrown in a dodgy half against Oxford, Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers in their previous three league games but nothing of this magnitude. Shaqui Forde and Theo Archibald hauled Leyton Orient unexpectedly back into the race – and had they managed to level the scores in that tense final half-hour we may now be reflecting on one of the biggest turkeys Bolton had ever seen.

In the event, and spurred on by excellent Will Forrester, Wanderers managed to shake-off their malaise just enough to protect their penalty box and see out a result.

Injury time saw no fewer than three goal-bound shots blocked as the Londoners searched frantically for an equaliser, the last of which came via the boot of the much-maligned ex-Bolton captain Darren Pratley; perish the thought.

Evatt maintained after the final whistle that the result was all that mattered. Of course, the record books will not log how many fingernails were bitten to the quick in recording three points and after losing their last two back-to-back, a third defeat would have been unthinkable.

He also made valid reference to an unconvincing home win against Northampton Town in mid-October which ended up spurring a long run of positive results.

Brave faces aside, the way Wanderers lost complete control of the game must have been a cause for some concern, and in particular the way they struggled to deal with Leyton Orient once they had switched to a more direct approach after the break.

Two substitutions – Pratley and Idris El Mizouni – transformed the mood for the East Londoners, who instantly began to press Bolton’s midfield and defence in a way they had not managed before. The switch seemed to take the Whites by surprise and for 20 minutes they invited waves of pressure with a succession of panicky and aimless clearances.

Had Wanderers been more composed, played through the press or at least moved to a more direct style themselves in a smarter fashion, then there were plenty more goals in the game.

Instead, the visitors were able to tap into the blustery conditions and use their prowess at set pieces to keep their hosts pinned into their own penalty box, defending for their lives.

The small travelling support had been able to muster little but gallows humour in the first half. “How s*** must you be, it’s only 3-0!” they sang in a chant recalled by Richie Wellens in his post-match summary. With the home crowd stunned into relative silence, they seemed to be having a grand old time in the second half, especially after Archibald’s superb strike from the edge of the penalty box put them within a goal.

It is important to underline, however, that Wanderers were not ‘lucky’ in holding on to the 3-2 score-line. Yes, they frustratingly had to abandon that wonderfully intricate passing football, full of odd angles and imaginative flicks, replacing it with something more agricultural that reflected the grim winter afternoon.

If their defending had been loose after the interval, it improved dramatically. Forrester’s brave style, charging down everything that dropped into the penalty box, was good to see on his return. Eoin Toal took up Ricardo Santos’s position in the middle of the three and won no fewer than 12 aerial duels on the day. Yes, it wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

Evatt waited longer than anyone expected to make a change from the bench – but the introduction of Cameron Jerome and Victor Adeboyejo proved an important one.

There were grumbles when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Dion Charles were replaced, and that is putting it kindly, but the two more physical front men kept hold of possession more reliably, pitched in with the defensive work, and helped see the game out.

Wanderers should probably have enough goodwill in the tank to be forgiven this not being the perfect performance. And with January fast approaching there will be ample time for Evatt and Co to carefully consider whether they need reinforcements for the second half of the season.

Third in the table with a game in hand on those above is not a bad place to be on Christmas Day. There are certainly a few clubs who would swap places in an instant.

Seven points and 15 goals better off than they were at this stage last year, the mission statement of evolution and automatic promotion does not look outlandish in the least.

Bolton are in the mix, as they say, and while we would wish for victories to be racked up in a more comfortable manner, a toast to three points… And many more to come.