Peterborough United's battling display was undone by a cruel and very late twist of fate

There is no doubt the stronger team won the day, but that won’t ease the pain of losing to a fluke strike from substitute Dapo Afolayan which appeared to deflect off both Posh centre-backs Josh Knight and Ronnie Edwards before wrong-footing goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom, three visiting players who can be proud of their efforts at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Indeed the commitment all over the pitch was faultless, but the way Posh disappeared as an attacking threat after a bright first quarter of the game was most disappointing.

They didn’t force home ‘keeper James Trafford into a single save in 90 minutes as they slipped to a fourth straight League One defeat.

Posh boss Grant McCann’s selection caused a few raised eyebrows. It was certainly brave, although some on Twitter were using other descriptions.

Out went big-name striker Jack Marriott to be replaced by teenager Ricky-Jade Jones and also benched after the Fleetwood frustration were Frankie Kent, Hector Kyprianou and Joe Ward, although the latter was carrying a knock.

Josh Knight, Ben Thompson and Jeando Fuchs were the men to be called up alongside Jones in a 4-3-3 formation which had Nathan Thompson and Harrison Burrows as full-backs.

It looked to be a tough task against in-form opponents. Few were predicting Posh would win for the first time in a Football League game at Bolton and gain ground on the top four, who were playing each other today.

Posh started pretty well. They pressed high and panicked former Posh man Ricardo Santos on a couple of occasions, but significantly didn’t create a clear opening, despite speed and trickery on both flanks from Jones and Poku,

Jones saw an early shot blocked, a Poku cross just flew over the head of Clarke-Harris and another fine move ended with the skipper possibly geting a little touch on a Nathan Thompson cross which took the ball away from Ben Thompson.

Bolton struggled for the opening 25 minutes, but when the game became fractious and physical they started to dominate as referee Carl Brook went out of his way to upset both teams and both sets of supporters.

The home side penned Posh back and could have scored twice in the final five minutes of the first-half.

Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley was played through and skied badly wide with only Posh ‘keeper Lucas Bergstrom to beat on 41 minutes and in added time Gethin Jones headed against a post after Posh had struggled to clear a free kick.

And Bolton carried that momentum into the second-half by fashioning two great chances to score.

First, one-time Posh loanee Kyle Dempsey took too long over an 18-yard shot enabling Knight to block well and then former Cambridge star Jack Iredale looked certain to score at the far post until Bergstrom flew across his goal to save.

Even from a Posh corner, Bolton looked more likely to score, but the home side messed up a five-on-two break before Darius Charles forced Bergstrom into a tip-over sve from 20 yards.

Posh took off both wide players and sent on Ward and Ephron Mason-Clark, but almost immediately Burrows made a superb last-ditch tackle from a corner to thwart a tap-in opportunity for Charles.

Posh defended superbly for the rest of the game with Knight and Edwards most impressive, but they couldn’t keep hold of the ball or make the ocasional set-piece count.

The ending was another cruel twist in this season of awayday horrors. A double deflection won the game with three minutes to go and Posh were never likely to get back into the game against the meanest defence in the division.

Posh: Lucas Bergstrom, Nathan Thompson, Josh Knight, Ronnie Edwards, Harrison Burrows, Jeando Fuchs (sub Hector Kyprianou, 87 mins), Jack Taylor (sub Jack Marriott, 87 mins), Ben Thompson, Kwame Poku (sub Ephron Mason-Clark, 63 mins), Ricky-Jade Jones (sub Joe Ward, 63 mins) Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Unused substitutes: Will Blackmore, Frankie Kent, Joe Tomlinson,

Bolton: James Trafford, Gethin Jones, MJ Williams, Ricardo Santos, George Johnston, Jack Iredale (sub KIeran Sadlier, 78 mins), Conor Bradley, Kyle Dempsey (sub Jon Dadi Bodvarson, 70 mins), Elias Kachunga (sub Dapo Alofayan, 70 mins), George Thomason, Dion Charles (sub Amadou Bakayoko,.83 mins).

Unused substitutes: Will Aimson, Aaron Morley, Kieran Lee.

Goals: Posh –

Bolton – Afolayan (87 mins).

Cautions: Posh – Fuchs (foul), Knight (dissent), Kyprianou (foul).

Bolton – Iredale (foul), Johnstone (foul). Williams (foul), Sadlier (delaying the restart).

Referee: Carl Brook 5.

Attendance: 17,016 (618 Posh).