So, the long wait is finally over. Zat Knight’s first, and arguably Bolton’s most important, goal of the season ended a 550-minute scoreless spell and enabled Owen Coyle’s team to leapfrog their opponents and out of the relegation zone.

These pair of Wanderers, original members of the Football League, are among those trying to keep their footing on precarious ground at the bottom. They came into the contest with an identical return of five points from their previous eight outings.

Coyle made six alterations to the side that crashed out of the FA Cup at Tottenham in midweek. Of those that retained their places, midfielder Stuart Holden – Scottish-born, Texas-raised – was handed his Premier League debut. Teenager Jack Wilshere, borrowed from Arsenal for the rest of the campaign, made his first full home appearance on Bolton’s left but it was from the other flank that the hosts sprang a raid within 20 seconds that ended with Chung-Yong Lee’s centre being plucked out of the air by Wolves keeper Marcus Hahnemann.

The Midlanders’ own lack of productivity in front of goal – their total of 21 at kick-off making them the Premier League’s joint-lowest scorers – did not stem from an inability to penetrate the business end of the pitch, rather a lack of penalty-box dwellers to make regular deliveries into the area in the opening quarter-of-an-hour count.

Top scorer Kevin Doyle, a willing but often isolated runner, could not free himself in the more advanced areas and found himself shepherded away from danger by a home defence devoid of blood-clot victim Gary Cahill.

At the other end, Swedish striker Johan Elmander, surprisingly preferred to Bolton’s leading marksman Ivan Klasnic, highlighted his frail confidence with a trio of indecisive efforts as Bolton sought to end their drought; a 16th-minute effort, after an intricate exchange on the edge of the area with Kevin Davies and Lee, lacked power, a snap-shot was beaten away by Hahnemann and the best chance of the lot was blocked by Wolves captain Jody Craddock.

United States international Holden came as close to finding the net when, having sliced one long-distance drive wide, his free-kick evaded everyone and was clawed around an upright by Hahnemann. Then, after Craddock’s flicked near-post header forced Jussi Jaaskelainen into his first save of the contest, the marathon spell was finally terminated.

Retrieving an overhit corner on the left flank, Lee skipped past Adlene Guedioura’s challenge and tightrope-walked the byline before sliding back across the six-yard box, from where Knight guided the ball into the far corner. Never before have Bolton gone six games in the top flight without scoring, and the relief around the Reebok was tangible.

Having spent so long in search of an elusive first, Bolton wasted no time in pursuing a second. Davies’ prod forward immediately after the restart led to penalty claims for a handball against Ronald Zubar and the Bolton captain side-footed meekly when presented with a shooting opportunity seconds later.

Bolton may have been on the wrong side of narrow margins during their recent barren spell but Wolves will consider themselves unfortunate not to have equalised. Twice Mick McCarthy’s team struck the inside of the goalframe in the second period: first David Jones’ clipped 25-yard free-kick hit the post before squirming its way along the goalline, then Kevin Foley’s improvised volley flashed through a crowd of bodies and hit the base of the other upright.

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