Two goals in the opening four minutes from Matthew Taylor and Ricardo Gardner sent Bolton on their way to a thoroughly deserved three points against Portsmouth.

Peter Crouch pulled a goal back for Pompey in the first-half, but Gary Megson's men were never really troubled in a pulsating clash at the Reebok.

It was an impressive performance throughout by the Whites, who recorded their first win on home soil since the beginning of November, but on reflection, the 2-1 scoreline didn't portray the nature of the game.

From start to finish Bolton were superb in attack and created a number of chances that they failed to convert.

Indeed, despite the fantastic opening by the Trotters, they could have had the game sealed in the first 15 minutes.

But it as it was, two goals was enough to see off Tony Adams' men and cement a top-half spot for Bolton going into Christmas.

The catalyst for the win was Ricardo Gardner, who was restored to the starting line-up after a spell on the substitutes' bench.

The Jamaican was in top form right until his very last kick and rightly scored the goal that his performance deserved.

But before his fourth minute strike, Bolton were already one goal up after Matt Taylor scored against his former employers with barely a minute of the game gone.

Last season Taylor missed a gilt-edged opportunity against Portsmouth at the Reebok, but that wasn't the case this time round when he emphatically belted the ball past David James with his right foot.

Typically, Kevin Davies had won a flicked header and Taylor was in the right place to convert from 10 yards out. The midfielder - playing on the right side of midfield in a 4-4-2 formation - lobbed the ball over Hermann Hreidarsson before lacing past the England stopper.

Before Portsmouth had time to regroup they found themselves two goals behind as Ricardo Gardner struck to double Bolton's lead.

The 30-year-old made a perfectly timed run and connected with a first-time shot from just inside the box. David James did his best to keep the Jamaican's effort from rippling the net but the shot had too much power.

With the fantastic start behind them, Bolton didn't relent and could have killed off the contest. Firstly Davies couldn't connect with Steinsson's low cross from three yards out before Elmander had an angled shot saved by David James.

Portsmouth got themselves back into the game on 20 minutes when Peter Crouch netted with a far post header.

To be fair, Nico Kranjcar's excellent outside of the boot cross deserved a goal, and Crouch delivered from three yards out.

Before the break, Steinsson hit a post with a close-range header, whilst Jermain Defoe's touch let him down after the nippy forward had done well to evade Bolton's offside trap.

The tempo didn't relent in the second period as Bolton came out of the blocks flying once more.

David James almost presented Johan Elmander with a simple tap-in after being robbed of possession by the Sweden striker, but the stopper did well to recover and collect the ball at the second attempt.

Gardner almost registered his second of the afternoon later on when he could only place his shot into the side-netting after the ball had rebounded out to him from David James. It was a pity that the Jamaican couldn't convert with his first-time attempt as he had kick-started the Bolton attack with a jinking run through the centre of the pitch, which included one elegant drop of the shoulder to completely take Richard Hughes out of the picture.

Gardner was withdrawn with ten minutes to go and received a merited standing ovation as Gary Megson opted to steady things up with the introduction of Fabrice Muamba.

Indeed, Portsmouth didn't threaten further and Bolton comfortably held on for the three points which takes them up to ninth in the Barclays Premier League.