Bolton 1 Huddersfield Town 0: Town left stranded in trouble as Eagles pounces

How quickly things change, though, in this unpredictably tight division.

Last Saturday’s defeat to Hull, combined with results on Easter Monday had conspired to dump the Terriers into the bottom three.

At the first time of asking last night they failed to extricate themselves from the relegation zone. They have six games in which to do so, starting at home to Peterborough on Saturday, or else a return from the division they fought so long and hard to get out of, beckons.

This was a spirited performance from Mark Robins’s side, but ultimately not enough to deny Bolton a sixth consecutive home win.

Chris Eagles was the second-half matchwinner, keeping alive Wanderers’ slim play-off hopes and doing his old club Sheffield Wednesday a big favour by preventing Huddersfield claiming the one point that would have seen them climb above three teams and leave the Owls below the cut line.

Sighs of relief could also be heard from Oakwell, who like their Yorkshire brethren are on 47 points and deep in the mire.

Even if Town had rescued a point that their resilience merited, such is the nature of a division where relegation candidates are playing like title-chasers, it would not have provided the hammer blow to their fellow strugglers they so desperately required.

There were positives for Town, they looked energetic going forward, and when urgency was required, they responded.

But a 4-5-1 formation employed by Robins left lone front man James Vaughan all too often an isolated figure.

Alex Smithies marked his 150th league appearance for Town with a number of smart saves but he was helpless to stop Eagles’s 59th-minute winner, the blame for that goal lying at the door of Peter Clarke, the captain, who was robbed of possession.

Bolton had made the brighter start and their manager Dougie Freedman would argue they deserved to be ahead before Eagles struck. Marcos Alonso twice went close while South Korean Chung-Yong Lee was a constant threat.

The left-sided duo tormented Jack Hunt in the early exchanges, and when Hunt responded by upending Jay Spearing, he injured himself and Callum Woods was sent on.

It was the unlikely figure of Woods who had Huddersfield’s first shot at goal on 26 minutes when he collected a pass on the right and unleashed a 25-yard drive that flashed past Andy Lonergan’s right-hand post.

Bolton, though, should have taken the lead when Eagles beat Paul Dixon on the left and raced into the penalty area. His cutback found unmarked David Ngog, but he let Huddersfield off the hook by blazing over the bar.

Bolton’s profligacy caused a current of anxiety to ripple through the half-empty stands at the Reebok and filter down onto the pitch. The hosts were becoming increasingly sloppy, and Town began to exploit the large spaces they left in midfield.

Scannell’s cut-back to Ollie Norwood was met with a sliced drive across the area that caught Vaughan by surprise and a glorious chance was lost.

When there were numbers up front in support of Vaughan, the Terriers were a threat with Danny Ward cushioning a long ball and lashing a shot just wide.

Then Lonergan had to be alert to keep out a ricochet from Wanderers captain Zat Knight after Oscar Gobern’s shot. Clarke then crashed a header against the bar as Town ended the half on top.

Bolton emerged from the dressing room revitalised and it required a point-blank save from Smithies to deny Ngog who turned on Lee’s header and fired towards the bottom corner.

Their greater urgency was rewarded on 59 minutes when Sordell robbed Clarke on the right touchline as the Town captain dallied over a clearance, and raced into the area. Sordell’s cutback was met with a crisp finish from Eagles from 10 yards.

Huddersfield responded by forcing a series of corners before Scannell saw his cross-shot deflect agonisingly wide. Ward blazed over as the Terriers poured forward.

Scannell then drew a smart save from Lonergan with a stinging long-range effort.

Robins threw Beckford on and he came closest to an equaliser, glancing a header wide on the stroke of full-time, and Bolton held on.

Bolton Wanderers: Lonergan, Butterfield, Alonso, Dawson, Knight; Spearing, Pratley, Lee, Eagles (Mills 90); Ngog, Sordell (Kamara 82). Unused substitutes: Bogdan, Ream, Mills, Vela, Odelusi, Davies.

Huddersfield Town: Smithies, Hunt (Woods 16), Dixon, Clarke (Novak 90), Gerrard; Gobern, Norwood, Scannell, Ward, Danns (Beckford 76); Vaughan. Unused substitutes: Bennett, Wallace, Novak, Arfield, Robinson.

Referee: D Webb (County Durham).