By Mark Heys
April 24 2007

At the end of September no one could ever have imagined that Bolton reserves would truimph to lift their first title in twelve years.

The season had begun with a heavy home defeat against reserve league new boys Sheffield United and this was followed by defeats in the league and Manchester Senior Cup to Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic.

One bright point for Jimmy Phillips side was that a Matthew Cassidy goal helped to defeat United at the County Ground in the Lancashire Cup in mid-September but results in the league where far from great.

Kevin Nolan had offered to play for the reserves in an attempt to boost his fitness in early November and this decision paid dividens as the first team captain scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot to defeat Wigan Athletic at the Robin Park Arena.

This result helped to kick start the Wanderers second string's season and wins over Manchester City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers followed either side of the annual Christmas shut down.

Only Liverpool managed to break the Wanderers good form in the New Year when in mid-February they reigned supreme by scoring the only goal of the game in a tightly contested affair at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.

An own goal by Stockport County's Gianluca Havern kept Bolton's participation in the Manchester Senior Cup strong and results in the league continued to defy the odds this Spring.

From the middle of March onwards and with experienced faces such as Stelios Giannakopoulos, Henrik Pedersen, David Thompson, Cesar Martin and Idan Tal to call upon, the Wanderers went on a six game winning streak which has ultimately helped them gain their first bit of silverware since Steve Carroll coached the team to victory in the 1994-1995 campaign.

On-loan Zoltan Harsanyi helped the side to victory against Middlesbrough and Sheffield United whilst the European Championship winner Stelios Giannakopoulos found the back of the net in the games against Everton and Manchester City.

Wanderers must now play a Play Off match in May against the winners of the FA Premier Reserve league Southern Section. At the moment Watford lead the way but they are rivalled by Reading who have a two game advantage over the Hornets.

RESERVE ROLL CALL - THE TITLE WINNING SQUAD

ALI AL-HABSI

BLAZEJ AUGUSTYN

CHRIS BASHAM

TOM BROOKS

MATTHEW CASSIDY

MARK CHARLESWORTH

MARK ELLIS

JAROSTAW FOJUT

RICARDO GARDNER

DAVID GBERMIE

ZOLTAN HARSANYI

BRADLEY HILL

CHRIS HOWARTH

NICKY HUNT

SCOTT JAMIESON

PRZEMYSLAW KAZIMIERZAK

ROBERT LAINTON

CESAR MARTIN

LUBOMIR MICHALIK

SEAN MOUNTFORD

KEVIN NOLAN

TEMITOPE OBADEYI

MICHAEL RODDY

SAM SHERIDAN

JAMES SINCLAIR

ROBERT SISSONS

JOHANN SMITH

DANNY STOTT

IDAN TAL

ANDRANIK TEIMOURIAN

DAVID THOMPSON

LESLIE THOMPSON

RICARDO VAZ-TE

IAN WALKER

NATHAN WOLFE

KEVIN WOLZE

COACH- JIMMY PHILLIPS