England national manager rivals Steve McClaren and Sam Allardyce saw their respective sides Middlesbrough and Bolton fight out a mediocre 1-1 Premiership draw.
Goals from Adam Johnson, his first of the season for what was effectively a second string Middlesbrough side as they look towards next week's UEFA Cup, and then a leveller by Ricardo Vaz Te saw the teams perhaps finish level on terms.
However it is all but certain that McClaren will be named ahead of Allardyce as the successor to England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson on Thursday.
To add to Allardyce's woes Bolton's hopes of any sort of European football next term after their debut in the UEFA Cup this season hang in the balance as they trail Newcastle by two points for the spot in the Intertoto Cup with just five points from their last nine matches being their downfall.
Jay Jay Okokcha had a golden opportunity early on but one on one with 'keeper Ross Turnbull his tame effort was blocked by the young Aussie, standing in for the injured Mark Schwarzer.
The first half saw eight shots on target in all - four apiece - but it was Bolton's Kevin Davies who found Turnbull's legs up to the task to block his near goal effort.
Johnson, though, broke the deadlock as he cut in from the left in the 48th minute and unleashed a fine curling effort to beat Finnish international Jussi Jaaskelainen in at the far post.
However three minutes later Bolton equalised as Okocha put in a brilliant cross picking out Portuguese striker Vaz Te whose inch perfect header beat Turnbull.
'Boro had a superb opportunity to win it in the 71st minute when Jasskelainen failed to hold a tame free kick but Ugo Ehiogu completely fluffed the follow up with the goal at his mercy.
