Wanderers Reserves slipped to a 5-1 defeat against neighbours Blackburn Rovers in the opening fixture of the Barclays Premier Reserve League at Morecambe's Christie Park.

After taking the lead through James Sinclair's solo effort, Rovers hit back to make the score 4-1 at half-time before adding a fifth goal with just under ten minutes remaining.

Blackburn fielded a strong line-up compared to Alan Cork's youthful looking side with new-boys Danny Simpson, Keith Andrews and Carlos Villanueva all getting a decent amount of game time for the hosts.

Bolton opened the scoring only six minutes into the contest when James Sinclair netted after a fine run from midfield. The 20-year-old collected the ball in the middle of the park, hurdled a couple of tackles before slotting coolly past Jason Brown in the Rovers goal.

The lead only lasted just over a minute when Martin Olsson leveled for Blackburn. The Swedish U21 international bundled home a close-range header which looped over Adam Bogdan.

On 16 minutes Rovers went ahead when Marcus Marshall prodded home from a matter of yards following a decent move down the left, before the score became 3-1 on the half-hour mark as Alan Judge converted from the penalty spot.

Blackburn grabbed their fourth only a few minutes later when Martin Olsson bagged his second with a low shot from 20-yards.

Temitope Obadeyi almost pulled one back for the Wanderers in the second half with drive from distance which cannoned back off the upright, however the ball bounced to safety.

Ian Brunskill's side got their fifth and final strike of the evening deep into the second half when Alan Judge completed the scoring with his second goal of the night as he slotted in Rostyn Griffiths right-winged cross.

The Trotters next outing in the Barclays Premier Reserve League is on Wednesday 17 September when they entertain Newcastle United at the County Ground.