A LATE goal from new Blackburn Rovers striker Nick Blackman denied Bolton a notable victory over their Lancashire neighbours on a foul night at Leyland.
First-team prospect Temitope Obadeyi had put Bolton ahead and Alan Cork's young charges were within three minutes of beating a Rovers side which included six members of Sam Allardyce's senior set-up in their starting line.
Maximum points would also have lifted Bolton up to third in the table but having defended well in the face of a near-gale force wind they succumbed at the death when former Macclesfield Town teenager Blackman scored with a deflected shot from 20 yards.
That denied Bolton a fourth home win of the campaign but they at least made amends for an opening day 5-1 drubbing by Blackburn and last week's 3-0 loss at Newcastle.
Coach Cork described those two defeats as the only two disappointing displays of the season and he was again full of praise for a youthful side which held their own against a Blackburn team including new signing Gael Givet, as well as internationals Zurab Khizanishvilli and Aaron Mokoena.
"If you work hard you get your rewards and that's another good point for us. There were a lot of second-years in there again tonight and it's good to see everyone in the club getting a chance," said Cork.
That includes Obadeyi, who has been used as a substitute by Gary Megson in the last two Premier League games but did not make the trip to Dubai for a warm-weather training break with the rest of the first-team squad.
Instead he had to face driving rain and freezing cold conditions at Leyland but did not shirk the challenge and caused Blackburn plenty of problems, helping to tee up a first-half chance for the impressive Aaron Mooy who fired over.
Obadeyi also delivered the free-kick which saw defender David Gbemie, who has been told he will not be offered a new contract at the Reebok Stadium, head against a post early in the second half.
And the England under-19 international then pounced in the 73rd-minute to give Bolton the lead with his first goal of the season. A long clearance from goalkeeper Robert Lainton was well fed into Obadeyi's path by Zoltan Harsanyi and the teenage striker made no mistake in beating Jason Brown.
"We've told him he should be scoring more goals but once you've got one you sometimes get two or three so hopefully he'll get a few more and a few more games in the first-team," Cork added.
Blackburn also included Martin Olsson and the tricky Carlos Villanueva in their ranks and dominated for spells but failed to make many chances.
Aaron Doran shot just over in the first half and Tony Kane should have made more of a break-away when Bolton were caught short at the back.
But Lainton's only real save came from Blackman just after half-time and Blackburn were looking to long-range efforts before Blackman saved them a point.
Bolton Wanderers: Lainton, Sinclair, Stokes (Chambers 58), Sheridan, Gbemie, Fojut, Mooy, Sissons, Obadeyi, Harsanyi, Ward (O'Halloran 58). Substitutes: Brocklehurst, Carlisle, Blakeman, Chambers.
Blackburn Rovers: Brown, Kane, Givet (Gunning ht), Khizanishvili, Marrow, Mokoena, Doran (Clarke 85), Judge, Blackman, Villanueva (Hodge 74), Olsson. Substitutes: Swann, O'Keefe.
Attendance: 255
