Bolton moved out of the Premiership's bottom three for the first time since early January as they cruised to a 5-2 victory over already-relegated Crystal Palace.

But Wanderers were forced to fight every inch of the way against a spirited Eagles side who tried to impress new manager-elect Terry Venables.

The former England coach is expected to take up the reins at Selhurst Park next week, but if Palace are to make an immediate return to the top flight they could take a leaf out of Bolton's book.

Today's match was all about the Lancashire side's survival bid and top scorer Nathan Blake gave the strugglers the ideal start when he took advantage of a Paul Warhurst slip in the seventh minute.

But 60 seconds later, Palace were level through a powerful Dean Gordon strike and Marcus Bent silenced the home crowd in the 16th minute with a 25-yard piledriver.

However, the Bolton faithful immediately raised the volume again to help inspire Mark Fish's 19th-minute equaliser.

Then on the half-hour, Jimmy Phillips scored a superbly crafted and executed goal to end the scoring of a frantic first period.

The match settled down in the second period until strikes from Alan Thompson (73) and substitute Dean Holdsworth (79) ended the Palace resistance.

The Eagles were dealt further ignominy seven minutes from time when Valerien Ismael was dismissed for his second bookable offence.

The pressure at the Reebok Stadium exploded into life within seven minutes of the match.

Phillips attempted to find top scorer Blake with a long ball down the left flank but Palace defender Warhurst was quicker than the Wales international. But as Warhurst attempted to clear the ball, he went down and Blake pounced on the error before racing into the area. Goalkeeper Kevin Miller got a hand to the ball but was unable to prevent Bolton's opener.

But it took Palace just a minute to hit back and Gordon showed the kind of power and precision which has been lacking in the South Londoners' game all season.

Former player-coach Attilio Lombardo found space on the edge of the area before rolling the ball to former Bolton man Sasa Curcic. The Serb allowed the ball to roll on again to Gordon, who drilled it into the top-left corner of Keith Branagan's net.

The tempo rose and in the 16th minute Palace, against all the odds, went ahead. Bent collected the ball before striding towards goal. The home defence were caught back-pedalling and the striker unleashed a mighty strike from 25 yards which flew above Branagan and into the roof of the net.

The goal served only to ignite the passion in the home crowd and their support was rewarded three minutes later when fans' favourite Fish rose on the crowded six-yard line to head Bolton back level.

Then after 30 minutes, Phillips produced a goal which deserved to keep his side in the top flight alone.

The full-back found Per Frandsen on the edge of the area and raced into the box to collect the return ball. The Danish midfielder found two Palace defenders blocking his next move but cleverly lifted the ball to Phillips, who cushioned it on his chest before swivelling and crashing home a terrific volley beyond flying Miller.

But if the first half was the feast, the second period was the famine. Little happened for the opening 25 minutes except a standing ovation for on-loan striker Bob Taylor when he was replaced by Holdsworth in the 54th minute.

However, in the 73rd minute, the home side looked to have ended Palace's stubborn challenge.

Bent was booked for fouling Blake on the edge of the area. Frandsen and John Sheridan worked the set-piece between them before Thompson drilled the ball home from the left-hand corner of the box.

Six minutes later, victory was secured. From the centre of the field, Blake found Thompson on the left flank. The midfielder raced to the byline and crossed as £3.5million man Holdsworth stretched out his right leg to meet the ball perfectly for only his third goal of the season.

Then with seven minutes remaining, Palace were dealt another blow when defender Ismael was dismissed for his second bookable offence after a poor challenge on Blake.

Teams:

Bolton: Branagan, Cox, Fish, Thompson, Phillips, Bergsson, Sheridan (Johansen 89), Taggart, Frandsen, Blake (Salako 83), Taylor (Holdsworth 54).

Subs Not Used: Jaaskelainen, Todd.

Booked: Bergsson, Frandsen.

Goals: Blake 7, Fish 20, Phillips 30, Thompson 70, Holdsworth 79.

Crystal Palace: Miller, Edworthy, Gordon, Curcic, Lombardo (Shipperley 75), Warhurst, Bent, Ismael, Hreidarsson, Fullarton, Jansen.

Subs Not Used: Nash, Dyer, Rodger, Smith.

Sent Off: Ismael (82).

Booked: Fullarton, Ismael, Hreidarsson, Bent.

Goals: Gordon 8, Bent 16.

Att: 24,449

Ref: N S Barry (Scunthorpe).