ONE question was on the lips of every Bolton Wanderers fan who watched this one: “How?”

An incredible 30 shots on goal, just six on target, and not a thing to show for it.

Rotherham – seemingly revived under new boss Matt Hamshaw after a dire campaign – walked away with the ultimate smash-and-grab as Sam Nombe’s 10th minute strike proved decisive.

Wanderers were wasteful, panicked, even. And though Cameron Dawson deserves credit for some of the outstanding saves he made on the night, the players celebrating in front of the away end at the final whistle will know full well that they got away with one.

What damage this result does to Bolton’s play-off chances, only the next few weeks will tell. But if they continue in this profligate manner, it will be an early end to the season and a mass rebuilding effort in the summer.

Wanderers made two changes from the side that beat Bristol Rovers at the weekend, bringing Gethin Jones in for the injured Will Forrester and George Thomason into midfield for Carlos Mendes Gomes. Ricardo Santos also made his first appearance in the squad since mid-January, having sufficiently recovered from a pelvic injury.

First halves have not been kind to Bolton at home this season. They are the only side in the top half of the table with a goal deficit, conceding 13 and scoring just 10, four of which came in the same game against Reading. The habit of conceding first has also been a rare downside since Steven Schumacher took charge.

Performance-wise, the head coach will have had few complaints with the first 45 minutes, other than the fact that Rotherham scored with their one and only meaningful attack, and that the goal again felt eminently preventable.

Jones misplaced a pass on the right and found himself out of position, and a quick ball from Reece James to Mallik Wilks also caused Chris Forino to slip, opening up a route to the penalty box. Sam Nombe still had plenty of work to do when he received possession and blasted a powerful shot past Nathan Baxter to leave the Bolton fans in an all-too-familiar situation.

The Whites had played well, they had played the more enterprising football and at a much more enjoyable pace than they did in their sleepy win at the weekend.

The finishing touch was lacking, however, and the fact the Millers were able to nudge ahead gave them ample opportunity to slow the game down and eat up as much time as possible.

Chances came at regular intervals. George Thomason skewed an early right-footed effort wide and Aaron Morley did the same after a clever step-over from Thomason moments later.

Wanderers steadied themselves quickly after going behind and started to put pressure on the Rotherham goal once again. Jones and Aaron Collins combined on the right to put a fine ball in for John McAtee, which drifted agonisingly out of his reach.

One free kick flashed in front of skipper Hakeem Odoffin was the sum total of Rotherham’s offering for the rest of the half – but how Bolton did not draw themselves level is anyone’s guess.

McAtee teed up a headed chance for Dacres-Cogley 10 minutes before the interval, the defender’s looping header clawed from under the bar by Cameron Dawson.

Soon after that Thomason’s low cross from the left dropped for Morley on the edge of the area, and his measured shot looked to be creeping in until it bounced off McAtee and wide of the post.

Collins was next in the procession, failing to get a telling touch on Daces-Cogley’s low ball eight yards out, and before Ross Joyce blew the whistle there was still chance for another Bolton break to end in disappointment – the same two players combining for a shot that ended up in the empty seats behind the goal.

Schumacher has talked about his team needing to be more clinical and the half-time stats read that of 11 shots at goal, only two had been on target. Bolton had also managed 25 touches in the penalty box compared with Rotherham’s three.

The pattern did not change at the start of the second half either, with Forino turning a shot towards goal from close range that seemed to bounce off Collins and wide.

The Welshman was then denied from point blank range by Dawson with the goal gaping, claiming a handball from Jack Holmes when the ball bounced back off the keeper.

The tidal wave of pressure kept coming – Dacres-Cogley flashed one cross just in front of Thomason and was then sent through by Collins, once again finding Dawson in his way.

Morley and Colins had goal-bound shots blocked by Odoffin in an especially pinball-esque moment which also included a deflection off McAtee that dribbled just wide.

Dawson came to the Millers’ rescue again with a sprawling save from Sheehan’s 20-yard drive – and even when McAtee managed to get around him on the hour, the resulting shot bounced back off the post to safety.

It truly was an excruciating watch at that point but Bolton had to persist. Kyle Dempsey added some more impetus from the bench, curling a 25-yard shot narrowly wide soon after his arrival and then making a lung-bursting run to prevent Jordan Hugill getting a tap-in at the other end after a rare counter-attack.

Wanderers started to get desperate with nothing falling for them in the box. Sub Joel Randall had one cleared off his toes directly in front of goal and even the reliable right foot of Morley was failing to find the target.

Salvaging something, anything, became the order of the day, and when Dawson tipped George Johnston’s 30-yard screamer past the post, you suspected that the footballing gods were not on Bolton’s side.

Those same gods also had control of the fourth official’s board, with a miserly four minutes of added time hardly reflecting the reality of the evening.