The national media hadn't given the Wanderers a hope during this fixture and given the bad luck which Bolton had against Fulham last week it was about time that the club had the rub of the green and this came within a minute of the final whistle in West London.
Substitute Henrik Pedersen saw his left wing cross diverted past Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini by the on rushing Terry to hand the Trotters victory in what was a sound defensive performance which saw the Wanderers move back into the top half of the table with the Blues knocked off top spot by Manchester United who had beaten rivals Manchester City earlier in the day.
Chelsea, as expected, started the better of the two teams. Hernan Crespo, celebrating a recall to the side saw his shot on the turn in the tenth minute go wide following a cross by fellow striker Adrian Mutu. Minutes later the South American had a goal ruled out due to a handball.
However it was third time lucky for the Argentine when he headed home past the Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen on 21 minutes after steering John Terry's header past the Finnish international following a corner by Damien Duff.
Minutes earlier Mutu had given Wanderers a warning sign of what was to come after an excessive spell of Blues pressure but the curling shot by the Romanian international sailed wide.
Bolton to their credit defended well and had to take the chances which came their way and on 39 minutes found themselves back in the game with an equaliser which came through an unlikely source. Youri Djorkaeff's free kick was headed home by central defender Bruno N'Gotty for what was a rare goal for the former AC Milan star.
The second half saw Wanderers maintain their battling qualities and despite bringing on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Geremi and Joe Cole the home side could not find a formula to break down the Bolton defence which has conceded only two league goals in over a month.
Per Frandsen went close for the Lancashire side on 65 minutes but his long range effort was tipped away by Cudicini in the Chelsea goal. The game looked to be ending all square in what was a creditable point for the away side against what could be arguably described as one of the strongest teams in Europe at the moment given the money at their disposal and the quality which they have within the squad, however there where a few shocked faces when England defender John Terry, usually so reliable, ending up sending the three points to Bolton.
Credit must go to Sam Allardyce's team who once again despite being written off have defied the odds and made the game a good contest. Chelsea will feel hard done by and on chances created and possession would feel maybe they should have won the game but one thing you should never do is write off the battlers from Bolton.