DAVE Artell admitted he was glad he kept Oli Finney on long enough so he could help Crewe into Monday's FA Cup second round draw.

The fourth official was holding up the midfielder's number as he made the most of hapless Bolton defending and thrashed an angled finish beyond the bewildered Billy Crellin.

Finney's 70th-minute strike which restored Crewe's lead was his last contribution before he made way for Callum Ainley.

Charlie Kirk soon added a third after Crellin blundered punching out Ainley's delivery and Crewe - whose opening strike from Mikael Mandron was cancelled out by Nathan Delfouneso in the first half – appeared home and hosed.

But Delfouneso reduced the defecit to put a gloss on the scoreline – in truth Crewe should have won by more and, as against Gillingham last Tuesday, they failed to make the most of first-half dominance.

Artell said: "If the ball had gone out earlier Oli would have come off; thankfully it didn't. He has that ability to arrive at the right time in the right space and finish off those kind of chances.

"That's what he did, although it was probably not his best performance and he would be the first to admit that. But the fact he can get in those positions is a great asset and it is a knack scoring goals like that."

Crewe dominated the opening half an hour at the University of Bolton Stadium. It wasn't hard to see why Wanderers are struggling to make a mark in League Two - they offered Crewe plenty of space to get on their game and Ryan Wintle, in particular, seized the opportunity.

Mandron's opener in the 29th-minute was not before time. The Frenchman started and finished a swift attack, pinching the ball off Ronan Darcy in the middle of the park and releasing Wintle before racing into the box to meet the midfielder's cross with an outstretched leg from close range.

Before that Kirk may have done better when hitting the side netting twice, first with a far-post header and then a low shot.

Keeper Crellin did well to glove over Wintle's blockbuster from 25 yards.

Ian Evatt's side had posed no threat, until Delfouneso produced something out of his one-time top-flight locker, turning away from Luke Offord and Harry Pickering inside the box and curling a beauty into the top corner (37).

After the restart Finney poked Tommy Lowery's measured pass the wrong side of the post. But he made no mistake after brushing aside Tom White easily and hitting a left-footed finish past Crellin from a tight angle.

On-loan from Fleetwood, the young Bolton keeper has been under fire from his manager, and his hapless punch of Ainley's cross, albeit under pressure from sub Owen Dale, offered Kirk a free header into an empty net (75).

But Delfouneso turned in former Alex striker Shaun Miller's pullback (78) to leave the game in doubt to the end, although there were no real dramas as Crewe recorded the same scoreline here as they had in September's EFL Trophy clash.

Bolton boss Ian Evatt said: "Crewe didn't have to work that hard to score against us. We have made individual errors again and I think we beat ourselves rather than Crewe beating us.

"It is going to take time for us as we are in a massive transition with a new squad of players."

Bolton: Crellin; Baptiste, Santos, Delaney; Kioso, Sarcevic, White (Tutte), Gordon, Darcy (Miller); Crawford (Isgrove), Delfouneso. Subs: Hickman, Mascoll, Greenidge, Comley.

Crewe: Jaaskelainen; Ng (Johnson), Beckles, Offord, Pickering; Wintle, Lowry, Finney (Ainley); Powell (Dale), Mandron, Kirk. Subs: Richards, Adibisi, Nolan, Zanzala.