Sunderland Res 6 Bolton Wanderers Res 1
Stu Vose
Sunderland reserves hit sorry Bolton for six as Keith Bertschin's second string recorded a comfortable win on home soil.
Roy O'Donovan bagged a well-taken treble for the Black Cats, who recovered from an early blow to record a comfortable victory.
Danny Ward gave the visitors an early lead, but the home side refused to let their heads drop and led at the break through goals from O'Donovan and Nathan Luscombe.
The second period belonged to Bertschin's men, who quickly cashed in with an O'Donovan brace to open up a 4-1 lead before applying the coup de grace via a David Healy penalty and a further goal from Luscombe late on.
Sunderland were looking for their first win of the season at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground, but despite what was to come they found themselves behind within nine first-half minutes.
A questionable refereeing call for a trip gave Ward the chance to shoot from the edge of the area and the striker didn't disappoint by leaving Trevor Carson clutching at thin air with a curling effort.
Undeterred, the Black Cats pushed and were rewarded just four minutes later. The impressive David Meyler pushed a delightful ball into the path of O'Donovan, who finished smartly off the legs of Bolton keeper Adam Bogdan from close range.
Striker Healy could have made it two soon afterwards but smashed a shot into the side-netting, while goalscorer Ward should have done better from the edge of the box for the visitors.
Healy tested Bogdan down low with his next effort, a neat turn and shot from just inside the box which the Hungarian stopper did well to snap up by his near post.
Having set up the first goal, midfielder Meyler - included in the last two first-team squads - was in impressive form with manager Steve Bruce watching on from the press box.
And the Irishman's stock rose even more when he set up Sunderland's second goal just after the half-hour to underscore the hosts' superiority.
The midfielder took an intelligent throw-in from Michael Kay on his chest before spreading play wide to Luscombe, who cut inside his man and fired a clinical shot beyond Bogdan and into the far corner.
Winger Luscombe almost had a second just moments into the second half, but was denied by a super diving save from Bogdan after his snapshot deflected off a defender at point-blank range.
Bolton midfielder Michael O'Halloran briefly tested Carson with a speculative shot from a tight angle, but by now Sunderland were well in the ascendancy.
O'Donovan bagged his second goal of the game six minutes into the second period, tucking the ball away clinically across the keeper after Healy caught Aaron Mooy dallying in possession.
The Irish striker was unlucky to be denied a hat-trick soon afterwards as Robbie Weir crossed well from the right and the frontman's flick dropped just past the post. Weir himself then found Bogdan in the way of a low shot from the right-hand edge of the box.
But O'Donovan persevered and was rewarded on 64 minutes, completing his treble with a low shot from 10 yards after some fine build-up play put Luscombe in a position to cross.
Sub Nathan Battersby rattled the post with a powerful shot and Jack Sampson shot straight at Carson in the closing stages, but Bolton were well beaten and O'Donovan paved the way for Sunderland's fifth when he was brought down in the box seven minutes from time. Healy finished the penalty with aplomb.
And Luscombe rounded off a productive evening with his second goal of the contest just a minute later, heading home sub Ryan Noble's chipped cross from six yards.
Zoltan Harsanyi rattled Carson's crossbar in the dying minutes as Bolton looked for a consolation, while Adam Reed was just a whisker away from sending Sunderland into seventh heaven with a rising drive in injury time.
SAFC: Carson, Kay, Brown, Reed, Madden, Cornforth, Weir, Meyler, Healy, O'Donovan (R Noble, 83), Luscombe.
Subs Not Used: Hourihane, Misiewicz, L Noble, O'Mahoney.
Booked: None.
Sent Off: None.
Bolton: Bogdan, Riley (Battersby, 63), Blakeman, Sheridan, Connolly, Eckersley, O'Halloran, McDonald, Ward (Sampson, 46), Mooy (Stokes, 63), Harsanyi.
Subs Not Used: Stayte.
Booked: McDonald (89).
Sent Off: None.
Att: 662
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