The rest are playing for second place.What the Premiership will make of their defence next season is another matter. There is a theory that Bolton’s attack and midfield are good enough for the elite. The back four might not be – and this match did nothing to dispel it.Jon McCarthy slipped through the home rearguard like a ghost for Ian Bogie’s goal after two minutes and Wanderers’ players were not conspicuous by their presence when Lee Mills flicked on a free-kick after 50 minutes for Stuart Talbot to get Vale’s second.In between Bolton had scored twice. After eight minutes John McGinlay found his route to the right wing blocked and turned inside to locate Per Frandsen charging through. The Dane’s shot did not look particularly threatening but it squeezed in at the near post as Paul Musselwhite anticipated a shot to the opposite corner.Then, after 37 minutes, Scott Sellars crossed to the far post where Blake and the visitors’ Dean Glover combined to knock the ball in.
The Bolton player claimed it, although the last touch seemed to belong to the Vale defender.Talbot’s equaliser gave Vale hope in their pursuit of a play-off place, which was confounded by a thumping header by Fairclough from Sellars’ corner after 81 minutes. Blake, strolling round Musselwhite a minute later, added an embellishment Bolton did not really deserve.Flattered was the word that seemed pertinent and, yes, Todd did use it.Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Branagan; McAnespie, Fairclough, Taggart, Phillips; Johansen, Frandsen, Thompson, Sellars; McGinlay, Blake (Paatelainen, 86) Substitutes not used: Sheridan, Ward (gk).Port Vale: Musselwhite; Hill, Aspin, Glover, Tankard; McCarthy, Porter (Naylor, 83), Bogie, Koordes (Corden, 83); Talbot, Mills Substitute not used: Walker.Referee: G Cain (Bootle).. Neil Gregory, who has struggled to break into the Ipswich first team, scored a first-half hat-trick last night to give Ipswich a 3-1 victory over their First Division promotion rivals at Portman Road. He rattled in three almost identical goals inside the first 37 minutes It took him just 19 seconds to make his mark. Paul Mason knocked a long ball over the top and Gregory raced through before hitting a low shot under Simon Tracey.
In the 11th minute, Jamie Scowcroft flicked on a long punt upfield by Richard Wright and Gregory again beat Tracey.Jan Age Fjortoft pulled a goal back 10 minutes later, but in the 37th minute, the Mason-Gregory combination struck again..
Wolves, beaten only twice on their travels, prior to last weekend, saw the total doubled by Richard Forsyth’s goal for Stoke in the 47th minute of a fiery First Division derby. Victory in the Victoria Ground’s final floodlit fixture revived Stoke’s hopes of participating in the play-offs, where second-placed Wolves are in danger of joining them. Steve Bull, controversially sent off in Wolves’ defeat at Oldham, hit the post when Ally Pickering’s mistake gave him a chance to equalise with 13 minutes remaining. It typified a tantalising evening for the former England striker.
With less than 10 seconds on the stopwatch, the Molineux side carved through the heart of the home defence.
Carl Muggleton saved Steve Corica’s drive with his legs, only for the ball to break obligingly to Bull. However, from 15 yards, he sliced his shot yards wide of the unguarded net.Bull and Mark Venus both sent headers over the crossbar as Wolves created the better opportunities in an end-to-end contest. The record goal- scorer was finally on target with a characteristic volley after racing on to Simon Osborn’s long pass 10 minutes before half-time, but Muggleton leapt to his right to make a thrilling one-handed save.The roles were reversed in extraordinary fashion when the second half opened. Inside 15 seconds, Gerry McMahon’s weaving run made Wolves look like so many black-and-gold traffic cones, and it took a desperate block by Andy Thompson to prevent his scoring.
