Bolton welcomed back Stelios Giannakopoulos and Per Frandsen to their starting line up in place of Henrik Pedersen and the injured Youri Djorkaeff whilst Villa where able to call upon defender Olaf Mellberg once again following injury and he took the place of Dion Dublin who was relegated to the substitutes bench.
The first half never really got going but there was an early warning sign for Bolton when the in form Villa forward Juan Pablo Angel clipped Jussi Jaaskelainen's crossbar with just over a quarter of an hour on the clock.
Kevin Davies and a long range effort from Jay-Jay Okocha where the best Bolton could cunjure in the early stages of the first period but it was on the stroke of half time when they could of taken the lead after Stelios Giannakopoulos shot went the wrong side of Thomas Sorensen's post in the Villa goal but it was a clear indication that both sides needed a wake up call to liven the game up.
And within 60 seconds of the restart they got it. Bolton striker Kevin Davies flicked on the long ball into the path of Kevin Nolan who turned Villa defender Alpay before curling a sublime shot past the substitute goalkeeper Stefan Postma who had only a minute earlier come on for the injured Sorensen.
The goal brought both sides into life and there was some good play by each side at times spoilt by some inconsistant refereeing by the card happy Rob Styles who infuriated both sets of teams with some of the decisions made.
Within minutes of the goal Bolton had a further two chances to increase their lead. Giannakopoulos tested Postma with a good 25-yard drive which the Dutch keeper tipped away for a corner. And the resulting corner from the Greek was headed wide by the former Real Madrid player Ivan Campo who could of further increased the Wanderers lead.
Villa improved with the introduction of substitute Marcus Allback in place of Peter Whittingham and the Swedish international caused the Wanderers backline of Emerson Thome and Simon Charlton numerous problems.
An equaliser was forthcoming and the threat of in form Colombian Angel was always going to be a big factor for Wanderers. A neat three man move involving Gareth Barry and Lee Hendrie was finished off when the former River Plate player Angel beat Jaaskelainen from the edge of the area with a stunning drive.
This spurred Bolton back into action and once again Giannakopoulos had Postma at full strech with another long range effort which hit the netting whilst at the other end defender Jay-Lloyd Samuel hit a post for the home side who soon after where unable to convert following a goalmouth scramble but it was clear both sides where showing no let up in the fight for the three points in a game despite its dull opening half was turning out to be a decent afternoon's entertainment.
Bolton's Kevin Davies saw an opportunity go begging with 20 minutes to go when his shot flashed past the post but the game was firmly balanced and end to end until referee Mr Styles, famed for his controversy gave a penalty to the home side with minutes remaining after Angel and Campo had tangled in the box but there was nothing malicious about the challenge by the Bolton player on the Villa striker who seemed to be giving as good as he got.
However despite being in form the Villa record signing could not convert the penalty as Jussi Jaaskelainen made a good low save to the left hand side to deny David O'Leary's side the three points in what was perhaps a fair result. However it denies one of the sides from todays contest a chance to move into the top 10.
Bolton will be glad to finally score away from home whilst Villa will be rueing their penalty miss, with the quality of football played today it is unfortunate that there couldn't have been a winning goal but I think both managers on reflection will be pleased with the point.