Wanderers were once again denied at the death as Blackburn recovered from being 2-0 down at half-time to claim a point on a thrilling night at Ewood Park.

Matt Taylor and Kevin Davies had put Gary Megson's team into a first half advantage, only for Stephen Warnock and Benni McCarthy to restore parity after the interval.

However Wanderers could have been returning back down the M61 with nothing had Jussi Jaaskelainen not thwarted McCarthy from the penalty spot and Ryan Nelsen come a shade closer with a header that struck the upright in the dying minutes.

As the synopsis of the match suggests, it was a game of two halves with Bolton being far superior in the first 45 minutes, only for Rovers to rally and dominate after half-time.

Whilst recent history suggests that meetings between the two teams on Blackburn's home patch always tend to be lively affairs, the signs were there early that this wasn't going to be any different.

Indeed it took only 15 minutes before Bolton were ahead when Matthew Taylor netted for a sixth time this season with a first-time finish from six yards out. Ariza Makukula, making his second start for the Whites since joining on-loan from Benfica, held the ball up fantastically before spinning and drilling a low cross from the right, directly into the path of Taylor, who had made a perfectly timed gallop to the far post.

Makukula was proving a nuisance for the Blackburn rearguard with his pace and strength in the final third, and he too came close to opening his account for the club halfway through the first half with an acrobatic volley that appeared to strike the arm of Chris Samba.

With Bolton evidently dictating proceedings, they went two goals to the good on 34 minutes thanks to Kevin Davies. Again play had stemmed from the right, but this time it was Gretar Steinsson who was the supplier as he whipped in a delicious low cross right into the path of the number 14.

Davies' original effort was fantastically saved by Paul Robinson from point blank range, but it was the same man who reacted the quickest to convert the rebound from an acute angle.

Brett Emerton's cynical lunge on Steinsson typified the way that the first half was going for the home side and the Australian could have considered himself lucky to escape with only a yellow card.

But after the interval, the pattern of play switched and it was Rovers who governed most of the possession as they sought a means of getting themselves back into the contest.

For the opening 15 minutes it was so far so good for Gary Megson's men, however it was the introduction of Tugay and Roque Santa Cruz that helped to unlock the Bolton back-four.

After the pair had only been on the field for eight minutes, Stephen Warnock reduced arrears when he latched onto a through pass from Benni McCarthy down the left and beat Jaaskelainen at his near post. The former Liverpool man seemed to deceive the Finland international and it could perhaps be argued that it was a miscued cross rather than a perfectly executed finish.

Minutes later and Blackburn wasted a golden opportunity to level the scores when they were awarded a spot-kick. Santa Cruz managed to get goal-side of Gary Cahill and as he looked to take the ball around the advancing Jaaskelainen, he was upended leaving Mike Dean with no option but to award a penalty. There could be no real arguments that the Paraguayan had been fouled, but it was a clear-cut handball in the build-up that left the Bolton players annoyed.

However Jaaskelainen atoned for his foul with a superb full-length save, as he not only dove correctly to his right to foil McCarthy but also clutched onto the South African's follow-up attempt.

It looked like Wanderers were going to hold on to claim all three points but with less than four minutes remaining, McCarthy made amends for his penalty blunder with a close range tap-in.

Emerton delivered a cross from the right, Samba's header from the edge of the area was charged down, Jason Roberts prodded the ball goalwards and McCarthy was on hand to poke in to send the home supporters wild.

And with Ewood Park now buzzing, Ryan Nelsen very nearly snatched all three points at the death with a glancing header that hit the base of the post, whilst Matt Taylor blazed wide with a left-footed effort from distance.

But as it was, time ran ot for both sides and Gary Megson and Sam Allardyce were forced to accept a point a piece for their players' efforts.