Bolton Wanderers have climbed out of the Championship relegation zone thanks to a quickfire treble in their 3-1 victory over Wigan Athletic this evening.
Max Clayton, Craig Davies and Lee Chung-yong all scored within the space of 11 second-half minutes as the Trotters continued their resurgence under Neil Lennon.
Callum McManaman, who hit the woodwork twice in the first half, grabbed a late consolation for the Latics, who drop below their Lancashire rivals in the table following an 11th winless match in 12.
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McManaman gave makeshift Trotters right-back Josh Vela a torrid time in the opening stages as he firstly burst to the byline to stand up a cross which Shaun Maloney weakly volleyed wide at the far stick.
The Scotland international winger then went the other way and beat Vela by cutting inside onto his right foot, with which he unleashed a powerful curler which flicked the top of Andy Lonergan's crossbar.
Clayton was lively on his first Wanderers start and, moments after seeing a shot blocked by the returning Leon Barnett, he forced Scott Carson into a good save following a Lee through-pass.
However, Bolton were hanging on as the break approached. Roger Espinoza and Marc-Antoine Fortune passed up chances in a frantic 60-second spell, at the end of which McManaman wriggled free of Tim Ream only to see a bending left-footed shot rebound off the far post.
Uwe Rosler's charges finished the first half the stronger, but it was Bolton who had taken the lead within five minutes of the restart when Lee and Clayton combined again to break the deadlock.
The South Korean playmaker collected a Davies knockdown before slipping in Clayton with a perfectly-weighted ball, and the young forward calmly poked between the legs of Carson for his first Bolton goal.
He could have had another moments later when he bent slightly over the crossbar from 10 yards after admirable persistence from Neil Danns, but the hosts did not have to wait much longer for their second.
Davies began the move with some strong hold-up play and, after releasing Liam Feeney down the right wing, he made a surging run into the area to meet a high cross with a towering header on 55 minutes.
Wigan were crumbling under the Bolton barrage and Barnett's light back-pass presented Clayton with an opportunity to seal the points before the hour mark, but again he could not get enough curl on his shot.
Barnett was punished for his next mistake, though, when referee Scott Duncan pointed to the spot after he wrestled Matt Mills to the ground. Man of the match Lee rolled the penalty down the middle for 3-0.
McManaman had drifted out of the game, but did produce one more moment of magic to give the Latics slim hope of a comeback as he met a pacey James McClean cross with a fine volley on 79 minutes.
That was all that Wigan could conjure as the visitors dropped to within one place of the bottom three, but Bolton are moving in the opposite direction following a fourth win in six games since Lennon's arrival.
Joe Fish
