Ill wind blows Bolton little good

Everton 2 Bolton Wanderers 0:Illness confined Phil Neville to his sick bed on Christmas Day but that did not dampen his upbeat prognosis on the health of Everton. "There is a real feeling that 2008 can be our year," said the club captain before leading this recovery from their sickening late defeat at Manchester United against belligerent Bolton.

They top their Uefa Cup group and have Chelsea to come in the semi-finals of the League Cup, and a real test of Everton's development lay in their recovery from the squandering of their 13-game unbeaten run at United on Sunday.

They did not produce their most eye-catching performance but in the strength of their squad, their patience in the face of feisty, resilient opponents and the belief they now appear to possess, David Moyes's side are equipped to continue their challenge.

Whether the pitch, festive fatigue or Old Trafford deflation was the cause, Everton's first-half performance suggested their self-confidence was under threat. Their eventual response was an emphatic retort to that suspicion, although, even in the opening period, they had the edge over dogged opponents.

Everton showed composure befitting a squad growing in experience, and the second half bore no resemblance to the mess that had gone before.

Within 30 seconds of the restart Tim Cahill forced a good save from Jussi Jaaskelainen, although a stronger finish was required, and from the resulting corner Joleon Lescott missed a glorious chance from only three yards out.

Luck and perseverance combined for the breakthrough. Neville cut inside to send a left-footed cross into the penalty area and, with Jaaskelainen preoccupied with the closing Cahill rather than the ball, the Bolton goalkeeper lost sight of his main priority and the cross drifted into an empty net. It was Neville's first goal in a year, only his second for Everton and the 10th of his entire career.

"Phil was sick all night and it was only at 11 o'clock this morning that he said he was fit enough to play," Moyes said. "All credit to him today. He played well and you wouldn't have known he was ill."

With Mikel Arteta probing despite being constantly manhandled by his marker, Ricardo Gardner, and Lescott rampaging down the left, Everton found an untroubled route to victory, with Phil Jagielka also impressing at centre half. With 20 minutes remaining the referee Rob Styles played advantage when Thomas Gravesen had been fouled by Gavin McCann but managed to release Lescott. Inexplicably, El-Hadji Diouf stood with his hands on his hips as the England international strolled unopposed to the byline and fed Cahill for his eighth goal of the season.

"You cannot criticise the referee for playing an advantage, but both Kevin Nolan and Gavin McCann thought Gravesen touched the ball to Lescott with his arm," said Bolton manager Gary Megson. "But that is not why we lost. If you play like we did against a team and a club like this you have to be very fortunate to come away with anything."