Bolton Wanderers 0

Forest Green Rovers 1

Captain fantastic Carl Winchester got Forest Green’s League Two season off to a winning start at Bolton Wanderers.

Winchester spanked home the only goal of the game from distance five minutes after the restart at the one-time Premier League outfit.

Gone are the Bolton glory days under Sam Allardyce, where the likes of Nicolas Anelka and Jay-Jay Okocha strutted their stuff in the Premier League.

And Rovers handed the Trotters a bloody nose in an eerily empty 28, 723 capacity University of Bolton Stadium.

Earlier, Mark Cooper’s side have bossed a scoreless first 45 minutes. However, Rovers had to be on their mettle when former Swindon Town striker Eion Doyle fluffed his lines for the Trotters and then Luke McGhee’s brilliance thwarted Antoni Sarcevic.

Rovers opened their account on 50 minutes – Winchester thumping home from 25 yards with his fizzer kissing the post on its way beyond Billy Crelin.

At the other end, McGhee rubber-stamped his authority with 16 minutes to go – throwing up a strong glove to frustrate Crawford.

Rovers survived a nerve-jangling penalty claim in the dying embers of the game as Cooper's side saw the game out.

Forest Green: McGhee, Godwin-Malife, Kitching, Moore-Taylor, Wilson, Cadden, Sweeney, Winchester, Adams, Collins (Wagstaff 81), Matt (McCoulsky 86)

Subs not used: Thomas, Bernard, Allen, Stevens, Stokes

Next up: Rovers welcome Bradford City on Saturday, September 19, 3pm.