Bolton Wanderers 1 Middlesbrough 2

Last updated : 01 March 2004 By Mark Heys
Zenden Celebrates Boro's Second EMPICS (c)
Bolton Wanderers had their Carling Cup dream ended at the final hurdle as Middlesbrough came out on top in the League Cup Final to win a closely fought encounter 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.


The Teesiders came out of the traps the fastest and took the lead in just the second minute of the game. The on loan midfield duo of Gaizka Mendieta and Boudwijn Zenden combined down the left and the Chelsea midfielder Zenden found Cameroon international Joseph Desire Job unmarked at the far post to score the opening goal.

Five minutes later referee Mike Riley incensed the Bolton bench when he awarded a penalty against Wanderers defender Emerson Thome for a foul on Job and Zenden duly despatched the resulting spot kick, further infuriating Bolton as it appeared the Dutchman had taken more than one touch.

Boro made sure their early advantage counted and Juninho teased the Bolton full back Simon Charlton in the hunt for a third goal but his cross was diverted away by Thome.

The Wanderers started to settle more after the opening third of the first half and this combined with a bit of luck helped them get back into the game. A neat through ball by Kevin Nolan to Kevin Davies seemed to be unconcerning for the Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer, however the shot by the former Southampton striker Davies from a wide angle sneaked into the net with a little help from Schwarzer who couldn't seem to get to grips with the ball.

This spured the Lancashire side on in the hunt for an equaliser with their captain Jay-Jay Okocha hitting the top of the net with a free kick on 23 minutes. However Bolton's best chance to draw level came on the half hour, midfielder Per Frandsen curled in a shot from the edge of the area and this was to strike the woodwork however World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff could not convert the rebound which was well saved by Schwarzer.

Djorkaeff then had two chances in quick succession, the first being a volley which was deflected for a corner and the second being a tame shot which was safely gathered by Schwarzer.

Bolton midfield pair Ivan Campo and Jay Jay Okocha both had an interesting midfield tussle with Boro duo Gaizka Mendieta and Juninho and it was the loan star Mendieta who broke clear only to see his shot sail high over the crossbar and into the stand.

The roof was closed in Cardiff but this did not deter from a good atmosphere from both sets of supporters who had turned out in their droves to see their heroes on the verge of silverware and the carnival atmosphere was evident both inside and outside the stadium before, during and after the game which was played in good spirits.

Bolton came out in the second half desperately searching for the goal to level the scores and it was midfielder Kevin Nolan, the club's top goalscorer this season, who came the closest to doing so but his header from Nicky Hunt's inch perfect cross was saved well by Australian international Schwarzer who apart from his earlier blunder was having a good match.

Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce brought on forward Henrik Pedersen in place of Per Frandsen and the Dane took up a position on the right hand side of midfield where he was hoping to take advantage of some assists by Kevin Davies who was winning many balls in the air, whilst Boro introduced former Bolton striker Michael Ricketts to a chorus of boos and jeers from the travelling Trotters supporters who still haven't forgiven the once capped England forward for walking out on them a year earlier.

Ricketts did break clear having been set up well by the impressive Brazilian Juninho but the former Walsall man saw his effort comfortably saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal.

Allardyce then threw on more substitutes as the game drew to a close with the attack minded pair of Javi Moreno and Stelios Giannakopoulos coming on for Kevin Nolan and Nicky Hunt.

Bolton then pushed everyone forward in the search for an equaliser and even Jaaskelainen left his area to try and salvage something for the Wanderers but it wasn't meant to be. Referee Riley further blotted his copybook when with just a minute or so on the clock he denied Wanderers a penalty when Ugo Ehiogu appeared to handle Giannakopoulos's goalbound effort, however the Teesiders held on for what was their first ever major trophy much to the jubilation of their manager Steve McClaren and chairman Steve Gibson. So near, yet so far for Bolton, both sides can be proud of getting this far in the competition when many at the start of the season would have stacked the odds against them.