Sheffield United were today knocked out of the FA Cup, after going down 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium.
Goals from Great Steinsson and Johan Elmander proved to be the difference, as the Blades missed out on a fifth round tie.
Unlike last time the Blades traveled to Lancashire for the same fixture, Bolton manager Owen Coyle named a strong side which included Sheffield-born Kevin Davies. Meanwhile, Kevin Blackwell recalled Darius Henderson and Henri Camara in place of Richard Cresswell and Ched Evans. Jonathan Fortune also replaced Marcel Seip.
Neither side dominated the first half, but the Blades refused to lie down for their Premier League hosts, and were far from outclassed on the field.
Henri Camara had arguably the best chance of the half when he latched onto Montgomery’s through ball, but he lifted the ball over the bar.
Meanwhile at the other end, Ivan Klasnic could have had more than one goal, but failed to find the target, and former Blades loanee Gary Cahill also headed wide.
The 5,000 travelling fans were hit with a sucker punch as their half-time Bovril was still fresh on the tongue. Kevin Davies turned his defender before feeding Steinsson who somehow managed to squeeze the ball past Bunn from a tight angle.
Substitute Jamie Ward couldn’t hit the target with the Blades best chance of the second-half but an equaliser appeared imminent amongst the excellent travelling support.
Unfortunately, as the Blades searched for a leveler Elmander managed to break free and beat Bunn to seal the game for Bolton, giving Owen Coyle yet another victory over Blades boss Kevin Blackwell.
Blades: Bunn, Walker, Morgan, Fortune, Taylor, Williamson (Cresswell), Montgomery, Harper, Quinn (Ward), Henderson, Camara (Evans).
Unused: Bennett, Geary, France, Stewart
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