Saturday April 9th 1988.

EXETER CITY 1
O'Connell penalty.
BOLTON WANDERERS 1 
Thomas.

Half-time 1-0

BOLTON FIGHT FOR A POINT

Report by Peter Masters 

BOLTON boss Phil Neal kept his players in the dressing room for 20 minutes after this game and then took time to praise battling Exeter.

The former Liverpool fullback saw his under-par Wanderers side drop two valuable promotion points, having struggled to cancel out a sixth minute penalty from Brendon O'Connell. I thought we were very tentative, but Exeter are a good, battling team. They fight you all the way,' he said. Determination has been

City's strongest suite all season, but their consistency tends to suffer in other directions.

Their failure to knit together a solid 90 minutes has cost them many points and yesterday's result was no exception. They were out of the blocks like an express train, forcing three corners in the first four minutes and then taking the lead. But their roller-coaster technique came into force in the second half and as City went off the boil, Bolton crept in to snatch a point. 'We just don't seem able to kill teams off,' admitted Exe- ter manager John Delve. 'Our football has got a lot better, but if we are going to do well next season, then these are games we ought to win.' Exeter frightened the daylights out of Bolton early on with Richard Cooper having a shot deflected over the top inside the opening minute. That sparked off a series of corners and the panic showed for the Northerners as keeper David Felgate completely missed the ball, leaving skipper Dave Sutton to head clear from under the bar. City wnet in front thanks to the preseverance of winger Darran Rowbotham. Chasing an over-hit pass from Paul Olsson, he robbed 19-year-old defender Paul Hughes, who then proceeded to wrestle Rowbotham to the ground.

O'Connell's spot kick was driven firmly into the corner and for the third match in a row, Bolton found themselves a goal down. During their two games over Easter, they managed to reverse that deficit for 2-1 victories, but the escape act really never looked on yesterday.

Winger Hiley and Rowbotham had been City's influential forwards against Cardiff the week before and their crosses again spearheaded the Exeter artillery. Having had their promotion pedigree severely put to the test in the first half, Bolton were still searching for a orward gear when they struck with an equaliser in the 56th minute. Robbie Savage was denied by a double-barrelled challenge from Gwinnett and Keith Viney, but that left John Thomas with the straightforward task of chipping the ball into the empty net. It was his 23rd strike of the season and one that kept' Bolton alive in a game they never looked likely to win.

Exeter City:- Gwinnett; Harrower, Viney; Massey, Taylor, Cooper; Hiley, Olsson, Edwards, O'Connell, Rowbotham.

Bolton Wanderers:- Felgate; Hughes, Crombie; Savage, Came, Sutton; May, Thompson, Thomas, Elliott, Darby.

Attendance 1,962.

Summary 

At the park on Saturday Exeter entertained Bolton Wanderers in front of only 1962 supporters. The Grecians took the lead in the 7th minute when Brendan O'Connell scored from the penalty spot after Paul Hughes had bought down Darren Rowbotham. 

The equaliser came in the 56th when John Thomas, rattled home his 23rd goal of the season to end a lean spell for th egg striker.