SAM DALBY came off the bench to fire Bolton back into the Championship for the first time since 2019 with a 4-1 League One play-off final win over Stockport.

Substitute Dalby netted a decisive 81st-minute third goal after playing his part in Wanderers’ restoring their lead via a Kyle Wootton own goal 17 minutes earlier.

Ruben Rodrigues started and finished the scoring as County’s second Wembley defeat of the season ended with former Bolton right-back Josh Dacres-Cogley sent-off for a stoppage-time hair pull on Ibrahim Cissoko.

Steven Schumacher’s side celebrated their return to the second tier two years after losing to Oxford in the same showpiece.

Rodrigues, who played for the U’s in the 2024 final, gave Bolton a third-minute lead.

But after seeing a potential equaliser ruled out by a controversial VAR decision Adama Sidibeh headed a 29th-minute leveller for the Hatters.

With the temperature exceeding 30°C, Bolton turned up the heat themselves, forcing Wootton to turn the ball into his own net.

Hot shot striker Dalby’s brilliant overhead kick for his 14th goal of the season and Rodrigues’s second after Dacres-Cogley’s dismissal started wild celebrations among Bolton’s near 30,000 fans.

Dalby replaced Xavier Simons on the hour and three minutes later the substitute made his first telling contribution.

His pass sent in Amario Cozier-Duberry but Addai could only push the winger’s weak effort on to Wootton who unwittingly deflected it into his own net.

Opposite number Jack Bonham then showed his worth, blocking substitute Tanto Olaofe’s goal bound strike.

And it proved a crucial intervention as Dalby and Portuguese star Rodrigues ensured Bolton’s seventh play-off final appearance ended in glory.