Bolton caretaker manager Chris Evans got off to a winning start as
they secured a place in the FA Cup fourth round with a 4-0 win over
Lincoln.
Evans has already said he does not want to succeed Gary
Megson on a permanent basis - and Burnley's Owen Coyle is emerging
at the favourite for the job.
However both Evans and coach Steve Wigley must have been
satisfied with the way the team went about their business against
the lowly League Two side. However, they did require an own-goal
from Moses Swaibu in the 48th minute to get the ball rolling.
There was no disputing Chung-Yong Lee's strike a minute later
- it was a fine finish by the Korean - and Lincoln folded with Gary
Cahill and substitue Mark Davies also finding the target.
Bolton should have taken the lead after 13 minutes when the
ball broke to Lee on the edge of the area. He took a touch but
failed to test goalkeeper Rob Burch, hosting his shot high over the
bar.
Then Cahill strode forward for Bolton, only to see his effort
from inside the area cleared to safety. Bolton stepped up the pace
and Ivan Klasnic came close to making the breakthrough after 18
minutes.
Klasnic, with five goals in six games, was set up by Fabrice
Muamba, only to curl his shot the wrong side of the post before
testing Burch from an acute angle. Klasnic was beginning to worry
Lincoln and hooked a shot wide in the 28th minute after being set
up by Matt Taylor.
Six minutes later the visitors again found themselves on the
back foot when Gretar Steinsson whipped in a cross from the right.
Taylor peeled away from his marker but failed to find the target
from inside the six-yard area.
Lincoln, however, launched a swift counter attack in the 37th
minute and Joe Anderson set up Herd. He rattled in a shot from the
edge of the area that Ali Al Habsi gathered at the second attempt.
Bolton quickly got into their stride and rocked Lincoln with
two goals in quick succession. The first one was slightly fortunate
however with Swaibu deflecting the ball into his own net following
a ball from Taylor.
The second a minute later was a clinical finish from Lee, who
was left unmarked at the back post when Klasnic set up the opening.
Bolton almost added a third goal in the 64th minute after some
sloppy defensive play but Taylor's effort came back off the
underside of the bar.
Substitute Johan Elmander sent a shot from close range over
the bar before Cahill extended Bolton's lead in the 83rd minute.
The defender got on the end of a cross from Kevin Davies to send a
header beyond Burch for his sixth goal of the season. Lincoln hit
back and Herd tested Al Habsi with the goalkeeper doing well to
turn his effort around the post.
However substitute Mark Davies added a fourth for Bolton in
stoppage time from close range after being set up by Paul Robinson.
