32 points, still not a single defeat: Bolton's wall holds
Bolton Wanderers go 14 games unbeaten at the top of Sky Bet League One, with Portsmouth and Derby County snapping at their heels and Sunderland finally climbing clear of the bottom three.
"Nobody has put a hand on us yet," the word from the Bolton camp after another week at the summit — and nobody has. Fourteen games, nine won, five drawn, not one lost. Thirty-two points. The wall at the top of Sky Bet League One is still standing.
While Bolton rested their legs, the chasing pack did what chasing packs do: won. Portsmouth sit second on 30 points from their 14, Derby County third on 29 from 15 after a 1-0 win over Cheltenham Town, Oxford United fourth on 28 and Ipswich Town fifth on 27 after a 2-1 success against Southend United. A point here, a slip there, and this race tightens like a vice. Bolton have no margin for a bad afternoon.
At the other end, Sunderland's supporters finally had something to sing about. A 1-0 win over Salford City lifted them from 23rd to 18th — a great escape act in the making, and no mistake. Barnet climbed from 15th to 11th with a 2-1 win over Woking. Barnsley saw off Walsall 2-0, Bradford City won 1-0 at Sutton United, and the bottom three read Walsall on 12, Leyton Orient on 11 and Cheltenham on 8, staring up at the light.
Bolton have made the running since August, unbeaten through every week of this campaign. The pack keeps coming. The question is not whether someone can catch them — it is whether anyone can beat them at all.