It was a strange old night for Thierry Gale, who not long after celebrating a wonderful opening goal in the first half was then walking back down the tunnel in shame after a rush of blood and a straight red card.
It mattered little in the end, as Bolton produced a solid second-half display with 10 men to make sure they kicked off the Vertu Trophy with a win. As an extra bonus, Gale’s suspension will only count in this competition too.
Wanderers had lost their last five games against Rotherham in all competitions but even when they went down to 10 men created the best scoring opportunities, ensuring there were plenty of positives to be taken from the night.
The only survivor from Wanderers’ weekend draw at Blackpool was Aaron Morley, otherwise it was a very different-looking line-up named by Steven Schumacher for the first group outing.
Eighteen-year-old Ollie Smith was given his debut. A product of Julian Darby’s youth team, there has been a buzz about the young defender since he signed in the academy from Everton, and he acquitted himself well on the right side of a back four which also included deadline day signing Cyrus Christie, Chris Forino and Rich Taylor, making his first start.
Marcus Forss played on the right side of the attack, just 24 hours after completing his loan move from Middlesbrough, and there was a first start for Sam Dalby at centre-forward.
Even given their many changes, Wanderers produced much the better football in the first half and should really have been further ahead at the break.
Gale had inched them in front, producing his second cup goal of the season with a sublime right-footed curler into the top corner.
But the Barbados international blotted his copybook moments later, with a challenge on Millers’ skipper Joe Rafferty that saw him handed a straight red card by referee Andrew Humphries.
Gale had already been embroiled in a bit of argy-bargy moments earlier when he prevented a quick free kick and had been spoken to by the ref as a result. So to fly into a challenge seconds later was unwise, even though Wanderers fans close to the incident protested that to send him off was harsh.
The one-goal lead looked slim at that stage. Bolton should definitely have had more – and Sam Dalby was desperately unlucky to see an offside flag go up when he pounced on Morley’s cross from close range.
John McAtee – who inadvertently had a busier transfer deadline day than he expected – could have done better when played through the middle by Dalby’s superb flicked header, and also had another moment in front of goal when his attempt to backheel to Forss went awry.
Finland international Forss was full of clever running and his exchanges with both McAtee and Dalby were encouraging. He too dawdled too much on a couple of chances that fell his way as Wanderers kept constant pressure on the opposition box.
Tyler Miller had endured a difficult debut in the Carabao Cup against Sheffield Wednesday and when after 90 minutes he shanked a pass intended for Smith into touch, you feared the worst. But the American found his feet quickly and saw out the rest of the half without incident.
Smith’s freshness on the right was a pleasure to watch. Guided by the more experienced Christie in the first half, he had Forino alongside him after the break when Schumacher brought on Josh Dacres-Cogley at left back to guard against the dangerous Marvin Kaleta, with Taylor dropping into the middle.
Against 10 men, Rotherham had more of the ball but struggled to make a meaningful dent in the home defence until the hour mark when Ciaran McGuckin flicked a header at goal from close range which was pushed away athletically by Miller at full stretch.
It was clear that the last half hour would be more of a test, and Schumacher opted to take a slightly more pragmatic approach by bringing on Joel Randall and Ethan Erhahon for two attackers in Forss and Dalby, trying to shore things up a touch.
The nerves could have been helped by Randall, who should have put Bolton two up with 20 minutes left. Xavier Simons was sent in on goal and after keeper Cann had pushed him wide, he then made an even better save to push away Randall’s shot from close range.
Rotherham’s big chance to level matters and force the game to penalties came and went when a dangerous cross from Kaleta was volleyed wide by substitute Joe Powell. The same player sent a fizzing free kick just over the crossbar soon after.
Once again, Bolton could have made things easier on themselves. McAtee went clean through in the last minute but tried a rather convoluted chip over Cann which went spectacularly wrong.
Not too many folk had turned up to see it but there was a cheer of relief as the final whistle blew and Wanderers’ hard to work to protect their lead had been secured.