Bolton Wanderers 1 - 1 Bristol Rovers: Bolton denied victory by Byron Moore leveller

Posted Wednesday, March 01, 2017 by PA

Substitute Byron Moore scored his first goal for Bristol Rovers as the Pirates came from behind to hold Sky Bet League One promotion chasers Bolton to a 1-1 draw.

But Darrell Clarke's side will wonder how they failed to turn a sixth successive draw into victory at the Macron Stadium.

Apart from 15 minutes at the start when midfielder Josh Vela fired Wanderers in front with his eighth goal of the season, Rovers bossed their high-flying hosts.

Ellis Harrison missed an open goal after a blunder by goalkeeper Mark Howard. And Rovers had two penalty appeals for handball rejected in the opening period by referee Jeremy Simpson.

Bolton, who lost skipper Jay Spearing to a suspected injury at half-time, could not break out of their own half in the second period.

Howard saved from Cristian Montano and David Wheater booted substitute Luke James' effort off the line.

Eventually Moore, a 72nd-minute replacement for Montano, netted a deserved equaliser three minutes later from Billy Bodin's pass.

Ryan Sweeney then hit a post with Howard stranded and Wanderers' night to forget ended with Chris Long's 90th-minute red card for a second bookable offence.