Goals from Eoin Toal and Mason Burstow ensured a deserved and unexpectedly comfortable result against Steven Schumacher’s old employers, and a club widely expected to be among the candidates for a top six spot this season.
Bruce Rioch and Peter Shilton were in opposite dugouts when last Bolton beat Plymouth at home, midway through a famous campaign which would end in promotion.
There is a long way to go before this team can be spoken about in such reverent tones but the signs over both games this season are that Schumacher’s bustling, aggressive style will make his team one well worth watching.
Wanderers made five changes to the side that had been beaten at Stockport on the opening of the season – bringing Josh Sheehan, George Johnston, Joel Randall, Jordi Osei-Tutu and Thierry Gale in for Josh Dacres-Cogley, Aaron Morley, Chris Forino, John McAtee and Carlos Mendes Gomes.
Plymouth’s only real pressure on the Bolton goal in the first half came in the first 15 minutes, where Johnston was required to make an important block to deny Bali Mumba and both Sheehan and Amario Cozier-Duberry got back to make challenges inside their own penalty box.
There was a pleasing energy and urgency about the way Bolton defended, and their ability to switch between defence and attack quickly provided a few good chances in the opening half-hour.
Mason Burstow was set away by a clever ball from Sheehan down the right, his cross eventually dipping just ahead of Gale’s outstretched boot at the far post.
Bolton kept the pressure on and when Max Conway swapped corner duties with Sheehan, the first goal arrived – a thunderous header from new skipper Toal, and his first since February.
Gale nearly made it two, once again profiting from a quick transition and cutting in from the left to bring a decent save out of Lucas Ashby-Hammond.
Though Plymouth debutant Bim Pepple was keeping Wanderers on their toes, the chances were all coming Bolton’s attacking end in front of the away fans, and Cozier-Duberry twice went close after drifting in off the left.
There were moments when Conway, Sheehan and Toal had to chase hard and make sure their timing was spot-on as Plymouth tried to attack down the flanks – but this was undoubtedly the reaction Schumacher would have wanted from his side after last weekend’s blip.
The speed of Bolton’s counters was also impressive. Even when striker Burstow was helping out to defend a set piece, they had outlets. And Gale went close with a deflected shot a few minutes before half time after a move executed with dizzying pace.
Johnston – whose head was now heavily bandaged after an earlier collision – went close to scoring a second from Sheehan’s corner shortly after the break, the defender’s volley skewing just wide of the post.
The Whites did not have to wait long, however, and after Osei-Tutu sprayed a good ball out for Cozier-Duberry, his near post cross was gobbled up by Burstow for his first goal since scoring for Hull City against Swansea in December last year.
The Tigers loanee had shown some promising signs at Stockport but that was the kind of moment that could now be a launchpad for his Bolton career – and a well-timed one at that, given the lack of striker options in the short term.
Burstow wasn’t far away from a second goal with a header just minutes later, connecting with another Cozier-Duberry centre.
He was subbed for John McAtee with 17 minutes left on the clock, walking around the edge of the pitch to the tunnel and deserving every moment of the applause he received from the North and West Stands.
Bolton had also brought Dacres-Cogley on for Gale, with Osei-Tutu pushing further down the right.
Plymouth boss Tom Cleverley tried everything his bench would allow to get his side attacking with a bit more precision. But the 1,600 travelling supporters who had been in such fine voice early on were gradually becoming more irritated, a mood not improved by the Lancastrian drizzle which paid them a visit midway through the second half.
Schumacher was also able to give summer signings Charlie Warren and Ethan Erhahon some time off the bench towards the end.
The visitors’ flagging confidence could have been boosted by a Konnel Szucs header which cleared the bar with five minutes to go – but at that stage a comeback looked unlikely in the extreme.
Warren could have had a dream debut in stoppage time when he tried to get on the end of McAtee’s cross.
In the end, however, the scoreline puts Bolton back level on goal difference and restores a bit of cheer after the frustration of the first weekend.