Roeder haunted by the Upton downs

West Ham United 1 Bolton Wanderers 1 West Ham falter again in their former fortress as the League's old adage predicts a grim new year

There's something of a Dickens character about Sam Allardyce. You can almost see the lugubrious manager counting up Bolton's points under candle-light and making his calculations about safety after his team had denied West Ham three of them.

So Glenn Roeder was spitting feathers afterwards about Bolton's equaliser from Michael Ricketts was he? Robbery was it? "About time a bit of fortune went in our favour," declared Big Sam. Did someone say something about bah, humbug?

Allardyce had not exactly been full of seasonal spirit beforehand. The Bolton manager promised that his strategy was to frustrate, then, when the home players' and supporters' nerves were frayed, strike with a vengeance. If there was ever a ground on which that policy might just work, this was it: less a fort-ress, more a bouncy castle.

His prophesy proved fairly accurate. Recovering from Ian Pearce's early goal to equalise through substitute Ricketts – the one-time England contender's first goal in open play this season – his team defended so deeply and tenaciously that West Ham, exhorted by an at times hysterical crowd, displayed all the psychological weaknesses that Allardyce had forecast.

Roeder's men failed lamentably in front of goal, Trevor Sinclair being the main culprit. Had the otherwise excellent Jay-Jay Okocha not twice seen fearsome efforts charged down by desperate Hammers bodies, it could have been far, far worse.

As it was, Roeder's team are damned by statistics that suggest an unpleasant 2003 lies in store. Bottom at Chistmas, relegated by May, the adage goes. That has invariably been the case since the Premiership has been in existence. On this evidence, you cannot really envisage the Hammers altering that fact. Bolton may just possess the international class to avoid joining them.

At such times, flaying officials is the desperate act of a condemned man. It's just that you don't expect it from Roeder. Last week, West Ham had a goal declared offside in error by an official. Yesterday, there was a suspicion about Ricketts as he combined with Okocha to force home the equaliser. Certainly, the Hammers' back line had stood as motionless as a group of carol singers before chorusing their disapproval. Roeder, usually a calm and rational man, had no doubts about its illegality.

"What annoys me is that referees are so arrogant," he said. "They are adamant they are right, and then they slide away into the night. They are not accountable. We are. I've never been one for technical apparatus in football, but I'm changing my mind."

Bolton have amassed a few points recently and might have garnered more with even modest fortune. West Ham have discarded them with almost criminal disregard. Injuries have not helped. With Paolo di Canio and Frédéric Kanouté still missing, it was again left to Pearce, improvising gamely as a forward, to partner Jermain Defoe.

For the first quarter of an hour, Allardyce's ploy of obdurate defence was effective. But he had to revise it hastily when Pearce belied his apparent lack of mobility after 17 minutes. Released by Defoe, he breached the defence with a reasonable impression of a greyhound at Walthamstow (if a pretty slow one) and clinically slid the ball under the advancing Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Yet West Ham retained a familiar vulnerability. Only after Pearce's goal did Bolton begin to exploit it and they were unfortunate not to equalise before the break. In one move- ment Henrik Pedersen turned, shot and beat the goalkeeper David James but not the post. Then Okocha moved the ball sideways from a free-kick, allowing Per Frandsen to strike it with venom. James reacted splendidly to punch clear.

It was as if Roeder's men did not know what to do with a lead, unaccustomed as they are to holding one. But after the interval they took the game to Bolton, who by now had replaced Bruno N'Gotty with Mike Whitlow. The latter was soon cautioned for a late challenge on Schemmel.

A further home goal beckoned. Michael Carrick singed Jaaskelainen's fingers with a venomous left-foot drive from an angle, but they could not capitalise on their domination. As West Ham admired their handiwork, Ricketts struck back in the 65th minute.

It ensured a frenetic final 25 minutes. Joe Cole went down in the area but referee Steve Bennett was unmoved, then Defoe was thwarted by Jaaskelainen. Don Hutchison came on for the last 10 minutes, replacing the injured Pearce, for his first appearance of the season. But it was an unmarked Sinclair who spurned the best chance. Offered a clear header from Steve Lomas' cross, his anquish was all too apparent after he sent it wide. At the end, Okocha rattled the home defence with his electric pace and control, and Allardyce observed: "He's got a great engine and tremendous quality. He just disappointed me that he could not finish better."

Slowly but inexorably, Bol-ton gather the points required to meet Allardyce's 40-point target. But it appears a dreadfully long way off at this stage. For West Ham, safety is even further away. They unleashed their emotions at the end as Tomas Repka had to be restrained when he tried to vent his feelings about the offside decision at the referee's assistant, and Lomas made his views known to the officials too. Not a happy ending for the Hammers, and the portents say worse is to come.