Striker Steven Fletcher gave the Edinburgh club the lead and two Second half strikes from David Murphy and Abdessalem Benjelloun ensured that it was unhappy trip North of the Border for the Wanderers.

Bolton manager Sammy Lee decided to rest the likes of Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicolas Anelka, Kevin Nolan, Kevin Davies and Abdoulaye Meite and this was a decision that was to quickly backfire on the Wanderers boss.

Within the early exchanges Hibs showed their attacking prowess when Fletcher was foiled by veteran Bolton keeper Ian Walker and this was soon followed by a long range effort from former Motherwell favourite Brian Kerr.

New Wanderers signing Heidar Helguson nearly got onto the scoresheet eleven minutes into his debut but the woodwork denied the Icelander from getting onto the scoresheet.

Just before the quarter hour mark a free kick from El-Hadji Diouf was fumbled by Belgian keeper Ma-Kalambay and Bolton midfielder Gary Speed being the quickest to react, fired the resulting loose ball straight into the arms of the Hibernian summer recruit.

Shortly after Hibs nearly scored from a set piece but the one time Stockport County centre half Rob Jones couldn't get his volley to trouble Walker in the Bolton goal.

Hibs forward Steven Fletcher was causing Bolton problems and his 21st minute strike over the bar was just a sign of what was to come later in the half.

Twenty minutes before the break Helguson was denied a debut goal once again after Ma-Kalambay got down well to deny the ex-Fulham attacker following good work in the build up play from El-Hadji Diouf and Danny Guthrie.

On 28 minutes the deadlock was broken through the dangerous Fletcher who beat the offside trap before firing the ball past Walker from within the area.

Fletcher nearly got onto the scoresheet again in similar fashion but the front man was wasteful when latching onto the ball from Kevin McCann.

As the half drew to a close Bolton had goalkeeper Walker to thank for pulling off a good saves from Benelloun and goalscorer Fletcher whilst at the other end Ricardo Vaz-Te hit the Hibernian bar after good work from Guthrie.

Bolton had a lot of Academy players on the substitutes bench and of those selected Manchester-born Nathan Wolfe came on for the start of the second half along with Slovak striker Zoltan Harsanyi.

Harsanyi came on for debutant Helguson and it was hoped that the talented youngster could bring Bolton back in front as was the case when he faced Mexican side Chivas Guadelajaro earlier on in the month.

However it was Beuzelin who struck first blood in the second half when hitting Zemmama's corner into the side netting when much of the Easter Road crowd anticipated another goal for John Collins side.

On 50 minutes substitute Clayton Donaldson spurned a good chance to further Hibs lead but the 2006-07 Nationwide Conference hot shot failed to make the most of Zemmama's pass into the danger zone.

Bolton gave youth prospects Robert Sissons and Temitope Obadeyi their chance shortly before the hour but last seasons reserve title squad members could do little about what was to follow.

Harsanyi and Vaz-Te had a couple of chances which where soundly dealt with by Ma-Kambalay but the game was put beyond doubt with just over 20 minutes remaining when former Middlesbrough left back David Murphy scored Hibs second goal after beating Lubomir Michalik.

Things went from bad to worse for Bolton as Hibs sealed the win on 75 minutes when Benjelloun scored an excellent strike from distance which left Walker with no chance.

The Wanderers must now prepare themselves for the short trip across the North West to take on Tranmere Rovers this coming weekend.

Bolton Wanderers: Ian Walker, James Sinclair, Abdoulaye Faye, Lubomir Michalik, Scott Jamieson, El-Hadji Diouf (Robert Sissons), Danny Guthrie (Temitope Obadeyi), Gary Speed (Matthew Cassidy), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Nathan Wolfe), Heidar Helguson (Zoltan Harsanyi), Ricardo Vaz-Te.

Subs Not Used: Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, Joey O'Brien

Hibernian: Yves Ma-Kambalay, Kevin McCann, David Murphy, Chris Hogg, Rob Jones, Guilluame Beuzelin (Thierry Gatheussi), Brian Kerr, Lewis Stevenson (Sean Lynch), Steven Fletcher (Clayton Donaldson), Abdessalem Benjelloun, Merouane Zemmama (Ross Chisholm) 

Subs Not Used: Andrew McNeil, Torben Joneliet, Ross Campbell, Darren McCormack, Dermot McCaffrey

Referee:

D.McDonald

Attendance:

N/A

Booked:

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