Bolton Wanderers have been relegated from the Premier League following a 2-2 draw with Stoke City this afternoon.
In an action-packed first half, Stoke came close through Ricardo Fuller, Peter Crouch and Matthew Etherington before they finally took the lead in the 13th minute.
A ball into the box by Etherington was bundled into the goal by Jonathan Walters, taking goalkeeper Adam Bogdan with him. The visitors pleaded for a foul to be given, but Chris Foy ignored the protests and gave the goal.
The visitors almost replied immediately when Thomas Sorensen spilt a Martin Petrov cross, but Robert Huth was alert enough to beat Chris Eagles to the rebound.
Walters then came close again for the Potters before Kevin Davies almost equalised for Bolton with a looping header that hit the crossbar.
The equaliser did eventually come in the 40th minute when a long ball from Bogdan resulted in an attempted clearance by Huth, only for the ball to rebound off Mark Davies's leg and into the net.
Bolton then took the lead just before the break, and it was another freak goal. This time it was Kevin Davies who got it with a cross-cum-shot from the right touchline that found the top corner of the net.
The hosts almost got an equaliser on the hour mark when Glenn Whelan's pass found Etherington in the box, but the finish was lacking as the Stoke midfielder's shot went high over the bar.
The equaliser did come with just over ten minutes to go, however, when Crouch was tripped by Bogdan in the penalty area. Walters stepped up and fired the ball home for his second of the game.
Tim Ream almost gave Bolton a dramatic late winner to keep them in the division, only to be denied by a fine reaction stop by Sorensen.
The result means that Bolton will be playing Championship football next season, finishing in 18th place, just one point from safety.
Barney Corkhill
