It was the Portuguese teenager's third goal in four games as he forced home Kevin Nolan's clever cross-cum-shot past Maik Taylor in the Birmingham goal just ten minutes after coming on as a substitute.

The game started in a patient and cagey manner and was never going to be a classic given the adverse weather conditions that had cast over the Reebok Stadium so it was no surprise that chances proved to be minimal throughout the first half.

Target man Kevin Davies had the first clear cut chance of the game for Bolton on ten minutes but his powerful header from a pinpoint left wing cross from Stelios Giannakopoulos did not suffienctly trouble Maik Taylor in the visitors goal.

Birmingham had a little and large front pairing of Emile Heskey and DJ Campbell and it was the former Brentford top scorer Campbell who looked to make a favourable impression in the Blues final top flight game following their relegation back to the Championship earlier this month.

However it was one time England midfielder Nicky Butt who fluffed City's best chance of the opening half when failing to connect to the ball inside the area after good work down the left hand side.

Campbell then fired in a weak shot that failed to trouble Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and this was followed up by an Ivan Campo header at the other end which was cleared to safety by the Blues experienced Dutch full back Mario Melchiot.

The second half offered a slight improvement for both teams and the game began to open up as Campbell was put through in a one on one situation by Jermaine Pennant. Fortunately for Bolton they found that Jaaskelainen was once again on top form to keep the scores goalless.

Jay-Jay Okocha and Ricardo Vaz-Te then entered the play for Wanderers in place of Hidetoshi Nakata and Ivan Campo but there was an unexpected introduction that was to receive the biggest cheer of the day as a visiting supporter sporting swimming flippers ran onto the field and bellyflopped into the goalmouth of Jussi Jaaskelainen before being escorted away by Police officers.

That piece of humorous intrusion livened up a restless home crowd and indeed the Bolton players too as Henrik Pedersen's volley was saved by Brum keeper Maik Taylor after Kevin Davies' knock down had caused a few problems for the visitors defence.

Two minutes later and sixty five minutes into the contest the Wanderers took the lead in a well worked move which started with Stelios Giannakopoulos down the left side. The little Greek played the ball infield to Nolan and his clever cross was diverted home by Vaz-Te for his sixth goal of the season and his third league goal of the campaign.

Jay-Jay Okocha then saw a free kick from the edge of the box dip over Taylor's right angle as Bolton looked to build on their lead in the final twenty minutes of another successful season which had seen European football at the club for the first time in 128 years.

Vaz-Te's introduction was of huge benefit to Bolton and his excellent through ball found its way to Davies who fired agonisingly wide with sight of goal at his mercy. Birmingham too where buoyed by the exploits of a front man as the lively Campbell once again managed to get in behind the home defence to test Jaaskelainen.

Bolton supporters shared some good friendly banter with their Birmingham counterparts as the game drew to a close but the joy was soon to turn to despair as news filtered through that Newcastle had managed to claim a home win against Chelsea to pip Wanderers to a place in next season's Intertoto Cup.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Tal Ben-Haim, Abdoulaye Faye, Henrik Pedersen, Hidetoshi Nakata (Jay-Jay Okocha), Ivan Campo (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Gary Speed, Kevin Nolan, Kevin Davies, Stelios Giannakopoulos (Jared Borgetti)

Subs Not Used: Ali Al-Habsi, Radhi Jaidi

Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Mario Melchiot, Alex Bruce, Martin Taylor, Matt Sadler, Jermaine Pennant, Medhi Nafti (Neil Kilkenny), Nicky Butt, Damien Johnson, Dudley Campbell, Emile Heskey

Subs Not Used: Nico Vaesen, Martin Latka, Stephen Clemence, Marcos Painter

Referee:

Steve Bennett

Attendance:

26,275

Booked:

Martin Taylor (Birmingham)

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