Speed kept his calm to confidently strike home an injury time penalty past the Hornets keeper Ben Foster after Wanderers substitute Idan Tal was felled in the box by centre half Danny Shittu.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the hosts though as Watford managed to hit the woodwork on three seperate occasions in a spirited performance which threatened to bleamish Bolton's excellent home record.

The Trotters handed a belated debut to new £8 million signing Nicolas Anelka and the former Arsenal and Manchester City man lined up in the centre of a three man attack which also included El-Hadji Diouf and Kevin Nolan.

Watford where very dangerous down the flanks thanks to the impressive Ashley Young and this was evident as early as the fourth minute when Bolton defender Nicky Hunt only just managed to scramble a dangerous cross from the right hand side over his own crossbar.

Another shaky moment for Sam Allardyce's men came in the twentieth minute when Abdoulaye Meite was caught napping. The Ivory Coast international allowed the ball to find its way through to Watford's Damien Francis who in turn rasped a shot off Jussi Jaaskelainen's near post.

Debutant Anelka had arguably one of the Wanderers finest chances of the half eight minutes later but his neat turn and shot from Ivan Campo's pass was unable to trouble visiting keeper Foster.

Bolton where clearly concerned at the fact that Young was able to exploit their full backs so with under ten minutes of the opening period remaining Sam Allardyce rejigged his formation and brought youngster Ricardo Vaz-Te off the bench to replace Nicky Hunt.

Vaz-Te went upfront, Kevin Nolan dropped back into midfield, Tal Ben-Haim went to right back and Abdoulaye Faye partnered Abdoulaye Meite in the heart of the defence.

Quicksilver Vaz-Te made an immediate impact down the channels and he was linking up particularly well with fellow front man Anelka, who had a penalty claim turned down by referee Mark Clattenburg shortly before the interval.

By this point in the first half the Wanderers finally upped the tempo much to the delight of the frustrated Reebok faithful who where looking to see the side bounce back after a disappointing display at Charlton last time out.

A late flurry of Bolton activity occured as the half reached it's climax. Firstly Faye had a chance to open the scoring but a powerful header from Diouf's inswinging corner but he somehow managed to put the ball wide and then moments later Vaz-Te failed to hit the target after collecting a Gary Speed pass.

The second half took time to get going but Anelka once again showed his prowess shortly before the hour mark when forcing Foster into a fine save after another smart shot on the turn from the edge of the box.

With twenty minutes remaining the debut boy was replaced by Idan Tal and the ex-Everton man wasted no time in imposing himself on the game to try and snatch a Bolton win. The Israeli star showed some neat touches and combination skills which would prove to be an attribute which would eventually unlock the Hornets defence.

However Watford dangerman Young had other ideas, and it was his break into the box from Gavin Mahon's pass which once again resulted in Jaaskelainen's crossbar being rattled.

Marlon King then placed his last minute shot the wrong side of Jaaskelainen's left post after being put in a one on one situation but Tal's mazy run into the area in injury time decided the game in Bolton's favour as Shittu felled the experienced midfielder in the area when he was en-route to goal.

Speed stepped up to blast the ball home from the spot to give Wanderers their second home win of the season in what many would describe as a late, late piece of fortune.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Abdoulaye Meite, Tal Ben-Haim, Quinton Fortune, Abdoulaye Faye, Ivan Campo, Gary Speed, Kevin Nolan, Nicolas Anelka (Idan Tal), El-Hadji Diouf (Andranik Teimourian)

Subs Not Used: Jarostaw Fojut, Ian Walker

Watford: Ben Foster, Lloyd Doyley, Danny Shittu, Malky Mackay, Jordan Stewart, Damian Francis, Gavin Mahon, Tommy Smith (Albert Jarrett), Marlon King, Darius Henderson

Subs Not Used: Jay DeMerit, Assan Bangoura, Matthew Spring, Richard Lee

Referee:

Mark Clattenburg

Attendance:

21,140

Booked:

Malky Mackay (Watford)

Kevin Nolan (Bolton

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