The 25th minute goal came out of nothing as the young midfielder acrobatically smashed the ball past Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown after Kevin Davies had headed Henrik Pedersen's hopeful cross into the danger area.

Bolton had a couple of opportunities to seal the game in the second half but it was visiting Pompey who had started the first ten minutes of opening half the brighter but their spirit was soon dampened by the hosts.

Nolan had looked eager to hit the target all afternoon and this was evident from as early as the third minute when the midfielder hooked the ball over Ashdown's bar following some good work from Davies and Jussi Jaaskelainen.

A few minutes later Pompey themselves showed some good attacking instincts as World Cup star Dario Silva reacted quickly with a header after a dangerous left wing cross from Laurent Robert.

Fortunately for the Wanderers the South American headed over the crossbar to continue a barren run in front of goal which had seen him score just two goals for Sevilla last season.

The home side then had to re-shape their midfield as the experienced Gary Speed came off the field with an injury and was replaced by Irish U21 international Joey O'Brien.

Teenager O'Brien seemed confident to get himself involved and linked up well with the likes of Hidetoshi Nakata who showed some nice touches and is undoubtedly getting better in each game that he plays.

Israeli defender Tal Ben-Haim then fired a chance high and over into the South Stand but on 25 minutes this wasn't to matter too much as Nolan brought the stadium to their feet with a contender for goal of the month.

A throw in by Wanderers captain Jay-Jay Okocha was only half cleared by the Portsmouth defence and the ball found it's way to makeshift full back Pedersen out on the left hand side. The Dane then pumped a hopeful ball into the danger area which was headed back across goal by former Southampton striker Davies who in turn found Nolan with his back to goal to sensationally fire the ball acrobatically past Jamie Ashdown.

Pompey had a couple of spells throughout the half to test the Wanderers resolve but Bolton had edged themselves into a deserved lead with a fine effort worthy of any venue.

England U21 midfielder Gary O'Neil then had a chance to bring the scores level for Pompey but he could not get enough onto a dangerous cross from Frenchman Robert who was roundly booed by a section of the home support throughout the game after choosing against a move to the Wanderers in the summer.

Nakata then showed a good footballing brain to flick Jay-Jay Okocha's cross goalwards but unfortunately the ball went just wide of Ashdown's right hand post.

Wing-Back Matthew Taylor then fired straight into the arms of Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen just a minute before referee Mark Clattenburg brought the half to a close.

Second half play saw chances few and far between for both sides but Bolton must feel aggreived that they did not take at least one of the efforts that came their way, one most notably from goalscorer Nolan.

A clever pass from Davies saw Nolan break through towards goal in the final quarter of an hour, he had a team mate to the right or he could have gone it alone against Pompey keeper Ashdown. In the end he chose the latter option but just as he was about to shoot the Portsmouth defenders got themselves re-organised to snuff out any danger.

A minute earlier Okocha had fired over following some great link up play by Ricardo Gardner and the impressive Nakata. Indeed the Japanese player was in the thick of things once again in the closing ten minutes of the game as he volleyed wide.

Pompey had mainly been restricted to aimless shots from outside the box but a curling effort from midfielder Richard Hughes on 81 minutes kept Jussi Jaaskelainen alert in the Bolton goal.

The away side brought on youngster Franck Songo'o, son of Cameroonian goalkeeper Jacques Songo'o, and the substitute midfielder immediately showed some nice touches to pep up Pompey in the final few minutes of the match.

It was to get worse for the South Coast club as the game came to a close as manager Alain Perrin was sent to the stands after questioning a decision by referee Clattenburg following a throw in by Danish international Brian Priske.

Bolton deserved the victory in the end and now move in and amongst the form sides in the league such as Charlton Athletic and Chelsea, both of whom won yesterday.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt (El-Hadji Diouf), Tal Ben-Haim, Bruno N'Gotty, Henrik Pedersen, Kevin Nolan, Jay-Jay Okocha (Stelios Giannakopoulos), Gary Speed (Joey O'Brien), Hidetoshi Nakata, Kevin Davies, Ricardo Gardner

Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Jared Borgetti

Portsmouth: Jamie Ashdown, Brian Priske, Andy O'Brien, Dejan Stefanovic, Gregory Vignal, Gary O'Neil (Frank Songo'o), Salif Diao, Richard Hughes, Matthew Taylor (Azar Karadas), Laurent Robert, Dario Silva (Svetoslav Todorov)

Subs Not Used: Sander Westerveld, Giannis Skopelitis

Referee:

Mark Clattenburg

Attendance:

23,124

Booked:

Tal Ben-Haim (Bolton

Dejan Stefanovic (Portsmouth)

Brian Priske (Portsmouth)

Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton)

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