Sam Allardyce was not short of a barbed comment or two towards his former employers before this rousing Lancashire derby, but it was the last word from Benni McCarthy that will have been far more hurtful to Bolton Wanderers than any gibe from their erstwhile manager.

Two goals up with less than half an hour remaining, Bolton looked to have done their talking on the pitch as they prepared to inflict on Allardyce a first defeat since taking charge at Blackburn Rovers last month.

With the eight-year Allardyce reign still casting a long shadow over the Reebok Stadium, the visiting side should have known better. Such was the fluctuation in fortunes, they were left hanging on for a point.

Transformed by the introduction of Roque Santa Cruz and Tugay Kerimoglu, Blackburn were denied victory by the woodwork from Ryan Nelsen’s header deep into stoppage time, with Jussi Jaaskelainen having earlier saved a penalty by McCarthy.

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“It feels like two points lost and who’d have thought that at half-time?” Allardyce said. “It was a tremendous fightback, but in the end we had to settle for a moral victory.”

The first Bolton goal, after 15 minutes, arrived as Gretar Steinsson, advancing down the right, fed Ariza Makukula on the edge of the area. The forward’s inviting centre across the six-yard box allowed Matt Taylor to slide home Bolton’s first league goal in almost eight hours of football.

Steinsson was again the supply line 20 minutes later, Kevin Davies reacting first to the rebound to find the net from a diminishing angle after Paul Robinson saved his initial effort.

Thoughts of a first win since December 20 began to wane when Stephen Warnock halved the deficit shortly after the hour, taking advantage of questionable positioning by Jaaskelainen to score at the near post.

As the tempo and drama heightened, Jaaskelainen atoned for upending Santa Cruz in the area with 20 minutes left, diving to his right to stop McCarthy’s penalty and then the follow-up from Keith Andrews. “The referee thinks it wasn’t a goalscoring opportunity but I can’t agree,” said Allardyce, who confirmed that Matt Derbyshire, the England Under-21 forward, is close to joining Olympiacos on loan.

McCarthy bundled home the equaliser three minutes from the end after Brett Emerton’s cross had caused panic in the Bolton area, but Gary Megson, the visiting manager, singled out Santa Cruz as the reason why the spoils were shared. “They brought on a £20 million centre-forward and he changed the game,” Megson said.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): P Robinson — A Ooijer (sub: R Santa Cruz, 58min), C Samba, R Nelsen, S Warnock — B Emerton, V Grella (sub: A Mokoena, 90), K Andrews, M G Pedersen (sub:Tugay Kerimoglu, 57) — B McCarthy, J Roberts. Substitutes not used: M Bunn, C Villanueva, G Givet, D Simpson. Booked: Emerton, Grella, Roberts.

Bolton Wanderers (4-4-1-1): J Jaaskelainen — G Steinsson, G Cahill, S Puygrenier, J Samuel — C Basham, K Nolan, F Muamba, M Taylor — K Davies, A Makukula (sub: M Davies, 74). Substitutes not used: A Al Habsi, E Smolarek, R Gardner, M Riga, D Shittu, A O’Brien. Booked: Steinsson, Jaaskelainen, M Davies, Puygrenier.

Referee: M Dean.