Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Blackburn Rovers

Gary Madine's winner was his fourth goal of the season

Gary Madine scored the only goal as Bolton Wanderers ended a run of 17 games without a win by beating Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.

The striker volleyed in following Dean Moxey's long throw 13 minutes from time to earn Neil Lennon's side only their second league victory of the season.

Madine had earlier seen a shot cleared off the line by Marcus Olsson after Zach Clough hit the post.

Tom Lawrence saw a deflected shot hit the post for Blackburn late on.

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Despite that late scare, Bolton held on to claim their first victory since beating Wolves 2-1 on 12 September and, in the process, earn a sixth successive home win over their Lancashire rivals.

It also provided a welcome boost to a club that is facing a winding-up petition from Revenue & Customs and which has been placed under a transfer embargo.

Bolton remain bottom of the table going into the new year, but closed the gap on fourth-from bottom Rotherham, who face Fulham on Tuesday, to four points.

The home side should have been in front by half-time but, after Clough turned Moxey's cross against the post, Madine saw his follow-up shot blocked by Olsson.

Blackburn, who have now lost back-to-back games, saw Shane Duffy head wide after the break and were denied a late equaliser when Lawrence's goalbound shot deflected onto the post and back into the arms of home keeper Ben Amos.

Bolton boss Neil Lennon:

"It's been a long time coming. I thought we were good value for the win.

"We had to withstand a little bit of pressure and we got a little bit of luck at the end. We deserved that luck, we haven't any this season whatsoever.

"It's nice to see people walking out of the ground with a smile on their face. It was an important win and important to get a reaction after such a poor performance on Saturday."

Blackburn manager Paul Lambert:

"I knew at the time the Middlesbrough game was off that it was going to have an adverse reaction to us because people have that mindset.

"You're better playing so everyone else is at the same level. I knew the Middlesbrough game being off was a dangerous thing for us - being fresh never really entered my brain.

"We just never did enough to win the game. Since I've been here that's the most disappointing performance."

Bolton's victory over Blackburn was only the 15th win of Neil Lennon's reign as manager

Former Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth (centre), whose consortium has been linked with a takeover of the club, watched his old side beat Blackburn