1st half:

Bolton may have turned up at Prenton Park, casually dressed and with only 40 minutes to go before the start, but casual on the pitch they were not. Ian Marshall and Michael Ricketts played from the start to give more height in attack against the two tall Rovers central defenders, Hill and Challinor.

There was an early scare in the 4th minute from a shot by Scott Taylor but Jussi Jaaskelainen made a great save. A minute later and a fracas between opposing players had the referee give out a stern lecture to some of them. Once again, Bo Hansen was on the right, trying to supply balls to Ricketts. Anthony Barness was lucky to get away with a strong challenge on Taylor who would have been through with just Jussi to beat; the crowd didn't like it! 5 minutes from the whistle, Hansen delivered a decent ball to Ricketts who could only shoot too high.

2nd half:

Dean Holdsworth replaced Marshall for the 2nd half. It was Mike Whitlow who put the Wanderers ahead after good work from Holdsworth and Ricketts, but it was Gareth Farrelly's ball that found the Bolton skipper who chipped it over goalkeeper Achterberg.

The game became a bit scrappy at times. Isaiah Rankin replaced Ricketts 20 minutes into the half. Every game now seems to have Mark Fish pull off a great tackle and this was true when he stole the ball from Taylor 8 minutes later. Hill brought Rankin down and was booked as Rankin threatened to bear down on Achterberg. It became a bit nail-biting in the last few minutes as Bolton couldn't keep possession and Hill had an overhead shot saved by Jussi. One minute before normal time, Roberts was red-carded for hauling down Hansen as the Bolton man was breaking free. Seconds before the end of 5 minutes of added time, Holdsworth went down in the Tranmere area and was promptly booked for diving. Avoiding Mersey water, the Wanderers returned to the Reebok to get clean.