Andy Walker bagged a brace as Bolton Wanderers came from behind to breeze to a brilliant 4-1 win at Fulham this afternoon.
The hosts, who handed new signing Mark Cooper a debut in midfield as Don Mackay switched systems, began brightly and took the lead in the fifth minute when Jeff Eckhardt, deployed alongside Sean Farrell up front, fired home his fourth goal of the campaign from a corner on the right.
Fulham’s new look midfield, with Cooper operating alongside Udo Onwere, initially overwhelmed Wanderers’ but Bruce Rioch’s side battled back into the match just after the midway point of the first half. Walker sprinted onto a superb raking pass from Alan Stubbs and stroked a shot past the stranded Jim Stannard to equalise. Fulham had a goal correctly ruled out for offside just before the break, with Eckhardt clearly in front of the Bolton defence before he reached a threaded through ball from Onwere.
The Welshman was switched into the back four in the second half after Junior Lewis replaced Glen Thomas at half-time. Bolton, fired up by a fierce pep-talk from Rioch, looked far sharper in the second period but you have to wonder whether Mackay’s tinkering played a part in Fulham’s alarming collapse. A steady stream of Bolton attacks battered the Fulham backline and it wasn’t a surprise when Walker’s second of the afternoon, which saw him stretch to send Mark Seagraves’ cross under the body of Stannard, arrived just before the hour mark.
Alan Stubbs sealed the points minutes later when he steered in Mark Patterson’s header with Fulham’s new-look defence all at sea and their time for on-loan David Lee to fabulously find the top corner after jinking away from John Marshall. Rioch rapped his side for taking the foot off the gas in the last fifteen minutes, but this resounding defeat represented the Whites’ first home league reverse of the season and leaves them looking down from twelfth place rather than up – like the ruthless Wanderers.
FULHAM: Stannard; Eckhardt, G. Thomas (Lewis 45), Pike, Marshall, Morgan, Cooper, Onwere, Hails, Brazil, Farrell. Subs (not used): Tierling.
BOOKED: Eckhardt.
GOAL: Eckhardt (5).
BOLTON WANDERERS: Branagan; Green, Seagraves, Stubbs (T. Kelly 66), Winstanley, Burke, Brown, Patterson, Reeves (McGinlay 45), Walker, Lee.
BOOKED: Winstanley.
GOALS: Walker (25, 58), Stubbs (60), Lee (75).
REFEREE: Ian Hemley (Bedford).
ATTENDANCE: 4,049.
