Sunderland ... 1 Bolton ... 0 Jason McAteer chose the perfect moment to open his Sunderland goal account to clinch a precious victory over former club Bolton.
McAteer thumped Kevin Phillips' 42nd-minute pass beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen to secure a first victory at the Stadium of Light in 2002 for the Wearsiders and ease the pressure on manager Peter Reid.
Sunderland were reasonable value for the three points, and the double over Wanderers, in the end.
But goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen had to save twice from Rod Wallace - the second just four minutes from time - and once each from Michael Ricketts and Gudni Bergsson to preserve his clean sheet.
Defeat left Bolton firmly in the dogfight at the bottom of the Premiership table, but the Black Cats were able to breathe that little bit more easily after safely negotiating a game they simply had to win.
After losing their last two games at the Stadium of Light to Middlesbrough and Newcastle, Reid's injury-plagued side ran out knowing that a third successive defeat would plunge them deep into relegation trouble.
Bolton had been contemplating just that situation for some time, and they too were in little doubt as to their predicament.
But on a night when a sticky pitch and a gale made pretty football something of a luxury, both at least tried, and at times, succeeded in raising the expectations of a tense crowd.
Indeed, Sunderland could have been two up inside six minutes, with Phillips seeing a first-minute header fall just wide with Bolton goalkeeper Jaaskelainen out of position, and then sending a less difficult effort high over the bar after Darren Williams had floated the ball behind the Wanderers defence.
With skipper Michael Gray again promoted to a midfield role, this time on the right, the Wearsiders tried to get the ball wide at every opportunity, and they sliced the visitors apart once again with 14 minutes gone.
This time it was Phillips, back on halfway, who started a slick one-touch move which saw Stefan Schwarz and Patrick Mboma combine to put McAteer in on goal, but good blocks from Bruno N'Gotty and then Bergsson kept him out.
SUNDERLAND: Sorensen, Haas, Craddock, Williams, McCartney, Kilbane, McAteer, Schwarz, Gray, Mboma (Quinn 90), Phillips. Subs Not Used: Macho, Varga, Bellion, Butler. Booked: McCartney, Phillips. Goals: McAteer 42.
BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty, Bergsson, Whitlow (Barness 45), Southall, Tofting, Warhurst (Espartero 68), Gardner, Djorkaeff, Ricketts (Holdsworth 57), Wallace. Subs Not Used: Poole, Nolan. Booked: Ricketts.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
