Rovers where awarded two debatable penalties by Clattenburg which South African striker Benni McCarthy went on to convert and further goals from David Bentley and Morten Gamst Pedersen ensured a miserable afternoon for Wanderers.

As expected, Bolton made one or two changes from the side which secured a goalless draw away to Atletico Madrid with Ivan Campo and El-Hadji Diouf both restored to the starting eleven.

Also back in Gary Megson's side where Gretar Steinsson, Danny Guthrie and Ricardo Gardner but there was no place for either Gavin McCann or Jlloyd Samuel.

The home side welcomed defender Christopher Samba and midfielder David Dunn back into their side following recent suspensions.

Blackburn attacked from the first whistle and within the opening sixty seconds McCarthy went close to breaking the deadlock after Morten Gamst Pedersen had been foiled.

McCarthy's effort was heading into the right hand corner only for Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to dive at full stretch in order to make the save.

A few minutes later Irish international Stephen Reid should have done better for Mark Hughes men but the former Millwall man could only place his shot wide of Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal.

Wanderers had their first real effort of the game in the tenth minute, a long throw in by Ivan Campo was headed into the box by Gary Cahill and former Rover Kevin Davies duly nodded the ball into the path of El-Hadji Diouf only for Blackburn keeper Brad Freidal to pull off a good save.

Official Clattenburg began to infuriate both sets of fans with some of the strange decisions which he made, most notably with Reid blatently fouling Campo and the latter taking out his frustrations on Dunn - both to no avail.

In the 24th minute one such foul did prove costly when Bolton full back Gretar Steinsson was penalised for bringing down Dunn but on closer inspection the Icelander looked to have won the ball.

The penalty was confidently converted by McCarthy for his tenth goal of the season leaving the Bolton contigent seething at the match referee.

Bolton could have got themselves back into the game in the 38th minute due to an absolute gift from Rovers defender Samba. The giant centre half nodded his clearance straight at Diouf but the Senegal star was foiled once again by Freidal who was quick to react.

Visiting captain Nolan picked up the resulting loose ball and fired in a goalbound shot only for the ball to clip the crossbar and go out of play.

Blackburn where not done as an attacking threat and as the half reached it's conclusion South American Roque Santa Cruz went close with a header after a good centre from makeshift full back Brett Emerton.

During the half time break Bolton decided to bring on their loan signing Grzegorz Rasiak for Danny Guthrie and the Polish front man was to make an immediate impression at the start of the second half by sticking the ball into the back of the net.

Strike partner Davies had delivered a delightful ball from the right flank into the box and the giant Rasiak was just offside when the cross was made.

It was all Bolton in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half and their efforts where rewarded when Kevin Davies smashed home a shot against his old club following a Matthew Taylor free kick delivered from the left.

On 53 minutes Nolan made an determined burst towards the Blackburn penalty area and despite the close presence of Dunn he managed to get in a shot which saw Freidal once again come to Rovers rescue.

Four minutes later Nolan fired well over into the Blackburn supporters to cap off a very good spell from the Wanderers, but the game was to turn right around moments after when defender Cahill was adjudged to have fouled Dunn just inside the penalty area in front of the visiting supporters.

McCarthy once again converted the penalty and on 71 minutes things went from bad to worse for Bolton as Bentley, surrounded by Wanderers defenders,  converted a header at the far post after a good cross from Pedersen.

Clattenburg could have rounded off an incompetent performance by giving Nolan his marching orders at Ewood Park for the second consecutive season but the referee spared the Bolton midfielder the humility of a red card after another tangle with Dunn.

Bolton tried to bring the game back to 3-2 but despite added pressure on the Blackburn defence they could not add to their goals tally for the contest.

They should have had a second goal at the least though when Rasiak's shot was handled in the area by Samba in an incident which was seen by everyone but the man in the middle.

Instead it was Rovers who put the crowning glory on the game in the final minute when Pedersen unmarked at the far post volleyed home a Jason Roberts cross to make it game over.

Next week sees Bolton come up against Champions League hopefuls Liverpool at the Reebok Stadium and this will be followed by a UEFA Cup double against Sporting Lisbon.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Gretar Steinsson, Gary Cahill, Andy O'Brien, Ricardo Gardner, Danny Guthrie (Grzegorz Rasiak), Ivan Campo (Tamir Cohen), Kevin Nolan (Joey O'Brien), El-Hadji Diouf, Kevin Davies, Matthew Taylor

SUBS NOT USED: Abdoulaye Meite, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

BLACKBURN ROVERS: Brad Freidal, Brett Emerton, Christopher Samba, Zurab Khisanishvili, Stephen Warnock, David Bentley, Stephen Reid, David Dunn (Aaron Mokoena), Morten Gamst Pedersen, Roque Santa Cruz, Benni McCarthy (Jason Roberts)

SUBS NOT USED: Tugay, Matty Derbyshire, Jason Brown (GK)

ATTENDANCE:

23,995

REFEREE:

Mark Clattenburg

BOOKED:

Reid (Rovers)

Nolan (Bolton)

Guthrie (Bolton)

Dunn (Rovers)

Campo (Bolton)

Diouf (Bolton)

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