FORGET New York, New York, this could be Rotherham, or Doncaster, Stevenage or home.
The bittersweet draws continue to stack up for Wanderers, allowing them on one hand to continue a lengthy unbeaten record but on another relinquish any reasonable claim they have on an automatic promotion place.
A 14th stalemate of the campaign added two more points to the ‘wasted’ pile, leaving a grumpy Steven Schumacher to admit such occasions as now “doing his head in” – and in that sense, he is not alone.
Barring a footballing miracle, Lincoln and Cardiff will be in the Championship next season and the fact we can say that with such certainty with nine games remaining is something I dearly hope Wanderers do not end up regretting this summer.
This team continues to show character, fighting back from 2-0 down once again to salvage something from their trip to South Yorkshire. It has depth and quality in most positions that many teams would kill for and with that in mind, why shouldn’t we believe that they can make a success of the play-offs? The answer to that question was written on the players’ faces as they applauded another magnificent away following in the Mears Stand on Saturday afternoon.
Though there is lots to admire about Schumacher’s first full season’s work at the Toughsheet, it remains unclear whether they have the cutthroat ruthlessness to get the job done when there is no second chance. This was such an occasion; Rotherham were vulnerable, Cardiff kicked off at 3pm and so it was imperative that some pressure was applied. Instead, Brian Barry-Murphy’s young side played carefree, mauling Exeter City at St James Park and expanding the gap on third to 11 points.
For the most part, Bolton have looked defensively robust, and certainly in comparison to the messy 2024/25 campaign in which they shipped 70 league goals. Yet it is now seven games since the Whites last kept a clean sheet and Schumacher has some thinking to do on how to balance his naturally attacking instincts against some of the weaker areas in his squad.
The absence of Eoin Toal at Rotherham as a steady hand at the back was quite evident. It meant George Johnston was brought inside to centre-half and Max Conway re-employed as a left-back, neither of which seemed a big issue until left-winger Corey Blackett-Taylor pulled up with a groin injury 20 minutes in, and his replacement Thierry Gale changed the dynamic completely.
Conway is a terrific young footballer and so dangerous with the ball at his feet, but his impetuousness can leave gaps. Johnston is a fearless defender, someone you would want in the trenches with you, but he can switch off. And Gale – his pace and control is genuinely frightening but several months into his first season in English football he has yet to catch the defensive bug, and that’s putting it mildly.
All of the above spelled trouble for Wanderers, who had started well enough on their quest to end a 60-year wait for a win in Rotherham and should have been ahead when Blackett-Taylor was denied one-on-one by Ted Cann shortly before his departure from the pitch.
A fracas in the Bolton dugout then provided an unnecessary distraction, with head of sports science Paul Walsh sent off by referee James Oldham for batting the ball away as Millers skipper Joe Rafferty attempted to retrieve it for a quick throw. The full-back took offence, lashed out at an innocent set of blue water bottles, and the whole incident threatened to get silly. Whether the Rotherham man should have seen more than a yellow card for his reaction is up for debate.
And so it was that later the Millers began to tell their tale. Bolton allowed too much space from the throw, Joe Powell swinging a ball in towards Ar’Jany Martha, who beat a dithering Jordi Osei-Tutu and Chris Forino in the air, the ball landing for Sam Nombe to score from close range.
Nombe has been the only real shining light for Rotherham this season and his name was whispered a lot in regard to Bolton in January. A £2million fee was circulated but nobody took the bait, yet if the Yorkshiremen do drop into League Two, he will surely have suitors at this level, if not the one above.
Three minutes later the powerful striker was celebrating a second, this time latching on to a fine pass from Martha – himself a very pleasing player to watch in a bang average side – and Nombe’s blunt shot somehow made its way through Jack Bonham at his near post and into the net.
For the final 20 minutes of the half Wanderers had drifted into a limbo state, barely contesting a second ball, hardly winning a thing on the ground or in the air. Only their ineptitude had created the hope that now coursed around the home fans, and so some action had to be taken.
Wanderers brought on Kyle Dempsey and Johnny Kenny for Ethan Erhahon and Ruben Rodrigues, who had endured a desperately disappointing debut, and the improvement was instant.
Chris Forino swept in Bolton’s first six minutes after the restart from Kenny’s cross, and Bolton started their full-on assault. Mason Burstow, Gale and Kenny had big chances to level but the job was done by Sam Dalby, who scored his seventh goal in the last 10 games to set up a real grandstand finish.
Away fans greeted the fourth official’s board, displaying five minutes, as a long-lost friend: “We’re Bolton Wanderers, we love extra time.”
It would be inaccurate to say Rotherham sat back and surrendered, Harry Gray and Duncan Watmore had presentable chances to improve their survival chances, but the narrative of the game was only heading one way.
This time, however, Wanderers could not find the final twist. Dempsey had two big chances, one screwed wide, one driven straight at the keeper. Gale put one effort over, rolled another weak one at Cann and went missing at the far post when Dalby put a header straight across goal. Try as they might, they could not turn one point into three this time.
There are plenty who would swap places with Bolton, including some who have spent more to achieve less. Nothing they have done so far should be regarded as a letdown with the play-offs still a viable route to the destination.
But the last thing that any of us will want, not least the head coach, is to be left reflecting on these occasions in the summer, re-living the mistakes, the missed chances, the opportunities that slipped through our grasp.
Start spreading the news, operation play-off probably starts here.
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