Match Report: Bolton Wanderers 1 Barnsley 0

Bolton Wanderers managed to see off some late second half pressure to secure a third win in a row against relegation-threatened Barnsley FC.

The game's only goal came from Jermaine Beckford on the stroke of half time in a game that didn't see many clear cut chances.

Barnsley had the first real chance when former Bayern Munich player Dale Jennings put over from a matter of yards after some neat interplay. The game never really got started as neither team managed to claw out any goalscoring opportunities. That was understandable as neither team managed to maintain any possession in the middle of the park.

As the forgettable first half was coming to an end, Bolton took the lead. It was as simple as you like. Matt Mills spotted the run of Jermaine Beckford in behind the Barnsley back line and played an exquisite ball over the top. As the static defence stood around looking for an offside, Beckford closed on the goalkeeper, rounded him and slotted the ball into an empty net sending Bolton into half time with a one goal lead.

The Whites didn't get to grips in the second half and failed to push on to put the game beyond the visitors. Barnsley had the vast majority of the chances in the second period where Dale Jennings proved dangerous. He almost caught goalkeeper Adam Bogdan off guard when he fired in a low effort which the Hungarian managed to get a solid hand to. Shortly after, Jennings put in a teasing back-post cross which was begging for the slightest of touches to send the travelling supporters into raptures.

With minutes of normal time to go, Alex Baptiste did what he's best at, conceding penalties. This was the third time in less than a month that he has conceded a penalty. After he got turned inside out, he unnecessarily brought down the Barnsley player giving Chris O'Grady the chance to level things up from the spot. O'Grady stepped up and smashed the spot kick against the post. Had it been on target, Bogdan would have got nowhere near it. Baptiste will be very lucky if he's not dropped for the next game against Charlton Athletic as he subsequently got subbed off for Zat Knight.

Bolton managed to hang on and secure a third win in succession and stretch the unbeaten run to six games.