It could have been so much worse had the Wanderers dwelled on an embarrasing start which saw Nicky Hunt fire the ball against his own goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to give the home side an early lead.

However to their credit the Wanderers dug in and produced a solid performance which was rewarded when Kevin Davies scored his second goal of the month on the half hour with a shot from the edge of the area which was slightly misjudged by West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.

The football was free flowing at times but the the visitors will rue the fact that they did not convert their chances when they came along as the likes of Davies and Henrik Pedersen both spurned second half chances to force the Trotters into the lead.

West Ham started the game like a bat out of hell and their attacking prowess was evident from the first whistle but the Wanderers rearguard coped admirably with what was thrown at them until Hunt's blatant error.

The said goal came in the tenth minute when Hammers top scorer Marlon Harewood played a delightful ball down the right channell which Yossi Benayoun squared into the danger zone only for Hunt to inadvertently fire the ball against his own goalkeeper and into the net.

This was then followed up by a heated argument between West Ham winger Matthew Etherington and Bolton skipper Kevin Nolan following a late challenge by the latter on the former but referee Rob Styles soon diffused the situation before it got out of hand.

Veteran Bolton star Gary Speed then burst into the West Ham penalty area in an attempt to fire past goalkeeper Hislop but his first touch wasn't the best thus allowing the hosts defence to clear their lines before any further damage was done.

Dean Ashton had a chance at the other end for the Hammers but perhaps the best effort of the game fell the way of the Wanderers in form forward Stelios Giannakopoulos who tried to volley the ball into the far top corner of Hislop's goal following a precise long pass upfield which dropped just over his shoulder.

Bolton's equalising goal came just a few minutes later as Abdoulaye Faye's dogged determination in the midfield presented Kevin Nolan with a chance to square the ball to Kevin Davies and the former Southampton striker scored his fourth goal of the season with a swerving shot from just outside the box.

By this point the game was well and truly evened up and had all the hallmarks to finish as a memorable cup tie but West Ham can consider themselves a tad unlucky not to have added a second goal just before the break when Yossi Benayoun was foiled by goalkeeper Jaaskelainen following some excellent interplay involving Harewood.

The second half was a tight and condensed affair to begin with as neither side wanted to surrender anything but Bolton wing back Ricardo Gardner lashed the ball into the side netting to give the home side a warning.

Hammers skipper Reo Coker and the lively front man Harewood then went close to forcing the issue before Bolton defender Ben-Haim reacted quickly to block a shot inside the area from England hopeful Etherington.

Bolton introduced the versatile Henrik Pedersen in place of Abdoulaye Faye for the final ten minutes of normal time in the hope that the Dane could repeat his heroics from the league game between the two teams just a few days ago.

Pedersen nearly came up trumps immediately after his introduction but neither he nor goalscorer Davies could snatch a late winner to set the Trotters up with a Quarter Final tie against local rivals Manchester City.

Extra time would help to seperate these two sides and it was perhaps against the run of possession when Marlon Harewood netting his 50th Hammers goal when reacting first to a dangerous right wing cross from Benayoun in the 96th minute to steer West Ham into the lead.

Bolton where not giving up though as Pedersen forced a header over the bar at the other end whilst Davies also had another chance to get on the scoresheet with a volley which flew over the crossbar from close range.

It wasn't to be though and despite a hardworking performance the Trotters could not make progress in this years competition and must now focus on this Saturday's league game against Sunderland.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt (Jared Borgetti), Tal Ben-Haim, Radhi Jaidi, Ricardo Gardner, Jay-Jay Okocha, Abdoulaye Faye (Henrik Pedersen), Gary Speed (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Kevin Nolan, Kevin Davies, Stelios Giannakopoulos

Subs Not Used: Ali Al-Habsi, Bruno N'Gotty

West Ham United: Shaka Hislop, Lionel Scaloni, Anton Ferdinand, Danny Gabbidon, Paul Konchesky, Yossi Benayoun, Nigel Reo-Coker (Christian Dailly), Hayden Mullins, Matthew Etherington (Bobby Zamora), Marlon Harewood, Dean Ashton (Teddy Sheringham)

Subs Not Used: Stephen Bywater, Clive Clarke

Referee:

Rob Styles

Attendance:

24,685

Booked:

Matthew Etherington (West Ham)

Kevin Nolan (Bolton)

Marlon Harewood (West Ham)

Tal Ben-Haim (Bolton)

Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham)

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