With the Welshmen beaten at home by Wycombe, there was an unexpected opportunity to whittle down the deficit and possibly breathe some new life into the automatic promotion chase.
But in truth there was nothing about an uninspired Bolton display that warranted victory, and though they huffed and puffed at the end looking for another moment of late magic, this time they were left wanting.
A first clean sheet in eight games and an unbeaten run now stretching to 13 is scant consolation on another night where we left hoping for more.
As if to underline Schumacher’s unhappiness with the performance, Wanderers made five changes from the side that had drawn at Rotherham United, bringing skipper Eoin Toal back in for Chris Forino, Thierry Gale for the injured Corey Blackett-Taylor, Kyle Dempsey for Ethan Erhahon, Johnny Kenny for Ruben Rodrigues and Cyrus Christie for Jordi Osei-Tutu.
A tepid first half played out with no major incident in front of either goal. Wanderers certainly had the majority of the pressure and went closest a couple of minutes before the break when Christie got on the end of Dempsey’s cross at the far post but could only turn his shot into the side netting.
Doncaster had looked bright early on, especially down the left where Glenn Middleton looked like giving Christie a rough night. The Irishman was determined not to have his St Patrick’s Day ruined, however, and produced a couple of important blocks in front of goal to keep Rovers at bay.
Jack Bonham also got fingertips on a shot from Robbie Gotts, but Bolton grew into the half and gradually forced the visitors back.
Sam Dalby hammered one shot just over the bar and Gale slid a dangerous ball right across the face of goal as the Whites kept the pressure on. Both Toal and George Johnston threw themselves at crosses and Kenny had another effort that clipped off a defender and into the arms of Thimothee Lo-Tutala.
There was a loud shout for handball after Christie’s header bounced off Matthew Pearson which was waved away by referee Jamie O’Connor, who had replaced the billed official, Darren Drysdale.
Another corner from Conway dropped for Kenny with five minutes to go in the half but the Celtic loanee could not stab a shot through a packed six yard box and Doncaster were able to clear their lines.
Failing to score in the first half has become a habit for Bolton this season, and they have drawn a blank in 27 of their 45 games so far this season. Since the goalless draw at Doncaster on New Year’s Day they have scored just five first-half goals in 16 games.
Wanderers nearly shot themselves in the foot immediately after the restart when Gale gave away possession on the edge of his own penalty box and Luke Molyneux’s cross dropped for Jack Senior, whose off-balance shot was blocked in front of goal by Toal.
Bonham also made an important claim at his near post to stop a low cross from Middleton which threatened to sneak through to Hakeeb Adelakun.
Moments of quality were few and far between. Bonham set Kenny on his way with a pinpoint kick on the hour mark but the Irishman couldn’t squeeze a cross through for Dalby bang centre of goal.
Gale also skied another effort from 10 yards out after a lay-off from Dempsey, shortly after Schumacher had sent on Osei-Tutu and Apter from the bench to try and liven things up.
Rovers had started the day five points clear of the relegation zone and though they had soaked up plenty of pressure in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, they continued to look a threat on the break. Molyneux cut in from the right to drill a low shot just wide of Bonham’s right-hand post and it was at that stage that Schumacher threw on his attacking joker, Ibrahim Cissoko.
The Dutchman lost his headband falling to the ground with his first action of the night but with his second produced a customary step-over and cross which nearly picked out Dalby and had to be scrambled behind for a corner.
The game continued to hang nervously in the balance. Johnston was called upon to make a superb block to stop Molyneux’s shot from the edge of the box.
The news that Cardiff had fallen behind started to filter through into the Toughsheet at about the time Apter embarked on a fine run from halfway, ending with a shot that was pushed wide by Lo-Tutala.
Home fans chanted for the team to get on the attack and another deflected cross from Apter landed on the roof of the net with just over seven minutes left on the clock.
Desperation inside the stadium grew as news of the scorelines elsewhere reinforced the feeling that this could be Bolton’s last chance to claw back some ground on the top two.
Referee O’Connor waved away claims that Dalby had been dragged back by Pearson as he tried to latch on to a long clearance from Bonham. And then the welcome sight of fourth official’s board, and seven minutes of stoppage time.
This time, it was nearly the visitors who ended up snatching the points late on. Jordan Gibson looked offside as he surged on to a long ball down the right and then cut in past Conway – but his rushed shot thankfully spun wide, leaving Bolton just a couple of minutes to try and conjure another big moment.
Doncaster killed every possible second they could – something referee O’Connor tackled with token yellow cards but not with the number of minutes added on to the initial seven.
For one brief moment it seemed as though a flick on from Dalby was going to drop kindly for Dempsey but Pearson got across to make a challenge. Seconds later the final whistle blew – the officials feeling the full force of the home fans’ unhappiness.