Match report: Blackburn Rovers 0 Bolton Wanderers 0

That unwanted moniker must now surely rest with Bolton Wanderers after Sam Allardyce's bruisers wrestled away the title in this often unsavoury, and sometimes barbaric, dispute between these two old neighbours.

Radio Five commentator Alan Green caused outrage on the streets of Bolton recently when he called Wanderers 'ugly' during the broadcasting of their game with Liverpool so it's perhaps as well he wasn't here to describe this one.

Wanderers are to the beautiful game what Celebrity Big Brother is to harmonious living.

At times, they can be as sneaky as Michael Barrymore, and they play a style of football that's about as pleasing to look at as the cross-dressing Pete Burns.

This wasn't so much ugly, it was more an all-out attack on the senses, so who does 'big' Sam think he's kidding with his conspiracy theories regarding referee Mike Riley?

The Bolton boss blamed Riley for the sending off of Hidetoshi Nakata but, if anything, the Leeds official was guilty of being lenient with Wanderers on a day when they revealed their darker side.

Nakata was, quite rightly, dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 33rd minute and his team-mate Joey O'Brien should have followed him seven minutes later for what was a crude late challenge on Ryan Nelsen.

Instead, the Wanderers full-back escaped with a booking, but that was conveniently brushed to one side by Allardyce, who launched into an astonishing post-match rant at Riley live on Sky TV.

The Wanderers chief tried to make the point that Rovers actually committed more fouls than his team, yet Bolton had five players booked to Blackburn's two.

While that might have been true, it's worth pointing out there are different degrees of 'fouling' and Wanderers appeared to have come with a game plan that centred around targeting Robbie Savage with some rough treatment.

For those who don't know, Wanderers and Savage have history, dating back four years (check) to a stormy encounter between Leicester and Bolton, when the Welshman was accused of getting Dean Holdsworth and Paul Warhurst sent off.

As a result, Savage is probably second only to Green as the most unpopular man in Bolton and Allardyce's players seemed to take it in turns to try and incite him in a first half that was full of needle.

Nakata and Khalilou Fadiga both got booked for fouls on the 31-year-old but, commendably, Savage kept his discipline in the face of such provocation, never retaliating once.

And, all the while, big Sam looked on from the sidelines, dressed head to toe in black like Darth Vadar, urging his stormtroopers into battle.

Fair play to Wanderers, though. While they might not be the prettiest side to watch, they sure as Hell are effective in what they do and, barring a few late scares, their 10-men held on for what could turn out to be a useful away point when the battle for sixth place reaches its climax in May.

Rovers totally bossed this game after Nakata's early dismissal but despite having 16 goal attempts to Bolton's three, only two of those were on target and they couldn't find a way past Jussi Jaaskelainen, who didn't make a serious save of note.

With Craig Bellamy deemed not fit enough to start and Tugay only a substitute, Rovers were missing a creative spark in the final third.

For their part, Bolton also defended magnificently, with the imposing Bruno N'Gotty particularly outstanding at the heart of their back nine.

Even before Nakata's sending off, Wanderers looked to get 10 men behind the ball the moment they lost possession, and they became even more determined to shut up shop once they went a man down.

Rovers' cause wasn't helped either by Riley, whose incessant whistle blowing prevented the game from flowing.

Nevertheless, this was a missed opportunity and Mark Hughes was left kicking himself after his players passed up the chance to leapfrog Wanderers in the table.

As six of the previous nine clashes between these two sides had been drawn, it's little wonder this 134th league derby ended in a stalemate, too.

Bolton might have scored after 10 minutes when Lucas Neill attempted to chest a pass to the keeper but he got his bearings all wrong and the ball dropped perfectly for Kevin Davies, who had sneaked in from wide on the right.

Thankfully, Brad Friedel showed lightning reactions and bravely dived at the feet of the former Rovers striker just as he pulled the trigger.

From then on, the rest of the half was dominated by the subplot surrounding Savage.

Fadiga and Nakata both got booked for tackles on the Rovers midfielder, and when the Japanese then followed it up with another late challenge on David Bentley, Mike Riley was left with no choice other than to offer him first use of the bath water.

With Wanderers reduced to 10 men, they became even more defensive minded, Allardyce choosing to replace Mexican striker Jared Borgetti with the portly Ivan Campo.

Rovers spent virtually the entire second half firmly encamped in Bolton's half but, for all their possession, they found their route to goal was blocked.

Their best chance fell to Brett Emerton but the Aussie's thumping header, from a Michael Gray cross, thudded against the underside of the crossbar.

Rovers then nearly paid the ultimate price for that profligacy in the 69th minute.

Davies brilliantly worked an opening for Ricardo Vaz Te, who cleverly rounded Friedel, but, with the goal at his mercy, the Portuguese substitute amazingly lost his footing in the act of shooting and ended up in a heap on the ground.

That was Hughes' cue to summon Bellamy from the bench and the Welshman instantly injected more verve in the final third.

He and fellow substitute Shefki Kuqi both went close with looping headers before Campo hacked another effort from Nelsen off the goal-line with Jaaskelainen a mere spectator.

By that stage, Matt Jansen had also come on for Bolton, but there was to be no late sting in the tail as both sides had to be content with a point.