Carlisle United suffered another home defeat, 4-1 to Bolton as they slipped nearer the League One relegation trapdoor.
By contrast a vibrant Bolton side, stronger in every department, boosted their automatic promotion ambitions.
Carlisle boss Paul Simpson started with three at the back but switched to four late in the first half as Bolton threatened to run away with it.
West Brom loanee Zac Ashworth had broken the deadlock after 31 minutes when he volleyed home a cross from Josh Sheehan. It was his first-ever League goal.
Ashworth then produced the pass for Paris Maghoma to double the lead five minutes later with a smart finish.
Jordan Gibson had scored a hat-trick in Carlisle’s best win of the season at Bolton and his substitute appearance produced hope for the Cumbrians when he cut the deficit on 71 minutes.
But Wanderers were not for yielding and they finished strongly to wrap up the points in stoppage time with two more goals.
Former Carlisle midfielder Kyle Dempsey fired home the third after latching onto Aaron Morley’s pass in the 91st minute.
Then Nat Ogbeta, who had arrived on loan from Swansea the night before, knocked in a debut goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
