Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce made the brave pre-match decision to rest his top scorers Stelios Giannakopoulos and Kevin Nolan and it was certainly a gamble which paid off as two of their replacements helped to do the damage to the Addicks.

Ricardo Vaz-Te and Jared Borgetti celebrated rare starts with goals and there was also a place on the scoresheet for Kevin Davies who continued his improving form in front of goal with a brace for the afternoon.

Three out of the four goals came more or less within the first half an hour to effectively end the tie as a contest and to confirm that Bolton will push on in their remaining few games to try and sneak a last UEFA Cup place at the expense of some of their rivals.

Wanderers controlled the game throughout and moved the ball around the park as good as any top flight team in the opening half whereas Charlton looked like a team short on confidence and short of ideas which is quite ironic really as such fate seemed to befall the hosts in recent weeks.

Vaz-Te netted his first ever Premiership goal on 14 minutes when his looping header from an accurate Hidetoshi Nakata cross dipped over Charlton keeper Thomas Myhre and into the back of the net.

The Portugese youngster was linking up well with Ricardo Gardner down the left hand side in the early stages and Charlton's rookie full back Osei Sankofa was certainly feeling the force of this in his first full top flight appearance since turning professional.

Seven minutes after the Vaz-Te goal Bolton moved two goals to the good as Davies scored his first for the afternoon after Jared Borgetti's initial effort from a Ivan Campo free kick had been blocked by Myhre.

The front three where certainly lively and they where helped by the presence of a strong midfield which included an experienced and unflappable Gary Speed, a rejuvanted Hidetoshi Nakata and man of the match Ivan Campo who's passing and vision all afternoon caused Charlton problems.

Nakata went close to grabbing himself a goal just before the half hour but his shot from the left edge of the area was saved by Myhre who was seemingly having an off day.

A third Bolton goal did come soonafter and it went the way of Borgetti who showed glimpses of why he is such a prolific striker by collecting a pass from Campo via a flick from Davies to fire the ball into the net to further compel Charlton's misery.

Understandably Addicks manager Alan Curbishley was to read his side the riot act at half time and wingers Dennis Rommedahl and Darren Ambrose felt the full force as they where withdrawn at half time.

Former Blackburn forward Jay Bothroyd and defender Jonathan Fortune came into the days play and this fresh introduction helped to re-organise the Charlton team and distrupt Bolton's fluency when going forward.

However this was not to deter Bolton as Campo went close to adding a fourth with a stinging volley from the edge of the area on 52 minutes after the Addicks defence had failed to clear a Nakata corner.

Kevin Davies out muscled Charlton substitute Jonathan Fortune but the Bolton forward could not get enough on his effort to prod the ball past ex-Everton stopper Myhre who was sharing some friendly banter with the Wanderers supporters behind the goal at times in the second half.

Charlton did grab something from the game on 76 minutes as England striker Darren Bent confidently stuck away a penalty after Wanderers keeper Jaaskelainen was adjudged to have struck Bothroyd when going for the ball

Jaaskelainen had little to do in an afternoon where Wanderers flourished in a performance similar to that of the games against West Ham United and Arsenal earlier in the season.

In the last minute the game was won with a fourth Wanderers goal and a second for Davies who bundled home a long throw by substitute Jay-Jay Okocha past the helpless Myhre.

Wanderers take to the road for the final time this season next weekend as they face Champions League elect Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane before two games at home in quick succession against Middlesbrough and Birmingham City

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Tal Ben-Haim, Abdoulaye Faye, Ricardo Gardner, Hidetoshi Nakata, Ivan Campo, Gary Speed (Jay-Jay Okocha), Kevin Davies, Jared Borgetti, Ricardo Vaz-Te (Kevin Nolan)

Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Bruno N'Gotty, Stelios Giannakopoulos

Charlton: Thomas Myhre, Osei Sankofa, Chris Perry, Gonzalo Sorondo, Chris Powell, Dennis Rommedahl (Jonathan Fortune), Matt Holland, Jason Euell, Bryan Hughes, Darren Ambrose (Jay Bothroyd), Darren Bent

Subs Not Used: Stephan Anderson, Kelly Youga

Referee:

Uriah Rennie

Attendance:

24,713

Booked:

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