In-form Ollie Norwood delivered a sizzling strike to clinch Huddersfield's Town’s first win at Bolton since 1968.
Drilled home from all of 30 yards in the 71st minute, it was a second goal in as many games for the Northern Ireland midfielder and a third of the season.
And it sealed a third straight Championship victory for Mark Robins’ men, who had keeper Alex Smithies to thank for a string of fine first-half saves
Town made two changes after Saturday’s home win over Burnley , with Keith Southern coming in for suspended midfielder Adam Clayton and Danny Ward replacing striker Martin Paterson, ruled out with a hamstring niggle.
While Mark Robins’ side were up against old boys Jermaine Beckford and Neil Danns, it was a Reebok Stadium return for Ward, who made two Premier League appearances for Bolton before joining Town, originally on loan, in March 2011.
Bolton boss Dougie Freedman made a few alterations after the 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, his side’s first in nine league outings, recalling defender Zat Knight and midfielders Medo Kamara, Andre Moritz and Rob Hall.
The home side made most of the early running, and Town twice conceded free-kicks to give them a sight of goal, but Southern blocked from Jay Spearing before Alex Smithies made a comfortable save from Andre Moritz.
Hall, a close-season recruit from West Ham, was a threat for Bolton, and he brought a good save from Smithies with a stinging shot in the 12th minute.
Town’s first real chance came on the quarter hour, when Jonathan Hogg headed down Ollie Norwood’s pass for Ward to shave the outside of the left-hand post with a volley, and soon after, Paul Dixon drove wide from Ward’s lay-off.
Hall looked hungry for the ball, and his persistence carried him into a decent position in the 21st minute, but his rising shot flew over.
Smithies might not have been troubled that time, but the stopper soon had to make two great saves to keep Bolton out.
First he came out at the feet of Moritz as the Brazilian burst on to a Hall pass, the ball ending up on the roof of the net, then he showed great reactions to keep out defender Matt Mills’ powerful header from a corner.
Little had been seen of Beckford in the opening half hour, but he popped up to test his old teammate Smithies with a snap shot which was pushed away for a corner.
Having started with a 3-5-2 formation, Town switched to 4-3-3 with Hammill further upfield, and Norwood set up a good chance for the stretching James Vaughan , whose downward angled header went narrowly wide of the right-hand upright.
Mark Robins was forced to make a change a minute before half-time, with Sean Scannell replacing Ward, who had taken a knock and failed to respond to treatment from physio James Haycock.
As it was revealed that Ward was struggling with a dead leg, Scannell had Town fans on their feet soon after the restart when he cut in on a mazy run and skipped past a couple of challengers, but his final shot went wide.
Bolton were struggling to find the fluency shown in the first half, and made two substitutions, with South Korean winger Chung-Yong Lee and former Liverpool striker David Ngog brought on for Hall and Moritz.
The latter had just brought a brave block from Southern, who was himself then replaced by Oscar Gobern. Danns’ foul on Vaughan brought a 68th-minute chance for Town, as Norwood met Hammill’s free-kick with a curling shot which had home keeper Andy Lonergan at full stretch.
Within three minutes, Town were in front, and this time Lonergan was unable to deny Norwood, who lashed home his second goal in as many games and third of the season with a sweet long-range strike into the right-hand side of the net.
Bolton brought on Cardiff loan striker Joe Mason in a bid to pep up their attack, but Town were lovely on the counter, and Scannell came close to picking out Vaughan with an 80th-minute run and cross.
