Bolton 4 Stockport 1 – Wanderers back in the big time!

By Hugo Varley

Bolton Wanderers made a sensational return to the Championship, after a second half blitz saw them dispatch of Stockport County in a pulsating Manchester Derby at Wembley.

After going into the break level at 1-1, Steven Schumacher’s Wanderers found an extra gear to blow County away with three unanswered goals and power themselves back into the second tier, seven years on from suffering relegation.

In contrast to yesterday’s Championship final, the game started at full throttle with Bolton taking the lead less than three minutes in.

Livley winger Thierry Gale picked the ball up on the left hand side, driving a low shot towards goal.

Stockport keeper Corey Addai unconvincingly parried the ball straight into the path of Mason Burstow, before regaining his composure to brilliantly keep out the Wanderers loanee. However, the former Crawley man could do nothing to stop Ruben Rodrigues finally nudging the ball home to give Schumacher’s side a dream start.

In what was a truly frenetic opening, Stockport thought they had levelled just moments later.

Adama Sidibeh suddenly found himself with the freedom of Wembley, latching onto a speculative long ball, before emphatically rifling home a low strike from close range.

However, ecstasy quickly turned to agony for the Hatters faithful after a VAR review   adjudged Sidibeh to have tripped George Johnston while chasing onto the pass.

Undeterred, Dave Challinor’s County continued to press, and on the half hour mark, Sidibeh finally got his goal.

The Gambian-born frontman displayed a true striker’s instinct to nonchalantly glance Odin Bailey’s teasing cross into the far corner past a helpless Jack Bonham.

Despite the on-field temperature hurtling past 30 degrees, the intensity remained, with Jordi Osei-Tutu coming close to regaining Bolton’s lead just before half-time.  

The former Arsenal full-back nicked the ball off Louie Barrie in his own half, before embarking on a fabulous run, eventually trying his luck from the edge of the box, seeing his shot deflected only narrowly over.

Going into the break, the game was there to be taken, and it was Bolton who well and truly grabbed it.  

It was the introduction of striker Sam Dalby midway through the second half that ultimately proved to be the turning point.

The former Wrexham man joined Burstow up top as Shumacher changed shape, and just two minutes later, the tactical shakeup produced an instant reward.

Exploiting greater space on the right hand side, Amario Cozier-Duberry burst into the box, squaring a low cross into the danger zone.

Addai clawed a hand towards the ball, only to inadvertently direct it into the legs of a helpless Kyle Wooton who could do nothing to stop it rolling over the line.

It was a horrible moment for the 29-year-old who was switched from a striker to defender by Challinor in mid-March to plug an injury crisis at the back.

In search of another quick response, Stockport poured forward straight from kick-off, only to be denied an instant equaliser by a stunning piece of goalkeeping from Bonham.

Substitute Tanto Olaofe found the ball at his feet in the box, but his snap shot was brilliantly kept out by the Bolton keeper, diving low to make an instinctive block.

As the minutes ticked on, Bolton pressed home their momentum, adapting best to an increasingly stretched game with Cozier-Duberry and Ibrahim Cissoko terrorising their respective full-backs.

The latter very nearly made it three with a quarter of an hour left, cutting in and forcing a smart stop from Addai.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before Bolton did double their advantage in spectacular fashion.

A scramble in the box saw the ball bounce just in front of Dalby who controlled it with his back to goal and powering a remarkable scissor kick into the top corner.

It was a goal worthy of confirming promotion and the game’s closing moments took place to the soundtrack of a crescendo of noise from the close to 30,000 Trotters fans.

A final gloss was put on the scoreline in injury time when Rodrigues calmly slotted home a penalty, after County’s Josh Dacres-Cogley had been shown a straight red for a foul on Cissoko.

The thumping victory made it third time lucky for Bolton, who lost out in the League One play-offs in both 2023 and 2024, while Stockport will lick the wounds of a second Wembley defeat of the season, having lost the Virtu Trophy Final to Luton just two months ago.