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David Healy's second of the season and an own goal from Gerald Cid gave the Cottagers the win after a Tony Warner blunder allowed Heidar Helguson put Bolton in front.

Warner did go from zero to hero however, with a couple of excellent saves to help Fulham hang onto their lead, but Bolton were unlucky not to get anything out of the game.

Warner's howler gifted Bolton the lead in the 13th minute, when, with the ball in his hands, he bumped into team-mate Zat Knight, causing him to spill the ball right to the feet of Helguson who rolled it into the empty net.

The Fulham keeper did manage to make up for that comical mistake just moments later though, when he got down really well to push away a low drive from Anelka.

Fulham then got back on terms in the 22nd minute when David Healy once again proved to be a predator supreme for his former Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez.

He fired in with typical precision from six yards out after Helguson made a mess of an attempted headed clearance.

Four minutes later and the Cottagers then found themselves in front, as Cid headed a Steven Davis free back out to Alexei Smertin; the Russian then fired a goalbound effort, and Cid stuck out a leg which only managed to deflect it past Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal.

Bolton looked the better side for most of the remainder of the half, but Carlos Bocanegra did well to stick out a leg and deny El-Hadji Diouf with their best effort.

Fulham also could have had a penalty just before the break when Jaaskelainen looked to have pulled back Healy, after the Irishman had nicked the ball when a "Warner-esque" mishandle from the Finnish keeper saw it pop loose.

In the early stages of the second-half Bolton pressed hard to for the equaliser as Fulham sat back dangerously.

The lively Nicolas Anelka drew another great save from Warner as he nearly curled home from just inside the box, Diouf had a snap shot that just went wide, while Abdoulaye Meite won a couple of headers in the box but couldn't direct any of them goalbound.

Fulham managed to stem the tide somewhat but continued to play a dangerous game by not producing anything going forward themselves.

They had to survive a couple of more scares before the end, with Gavin McCann and Nicky Hunt both failing to hit the target with decent chances, while substitute Lubomir Michalik headed straight at Warner in stoppage time.

However, Fulham hung on for the three points to get them off the mark for the season, but Bolton remain without a point after a second successive defeat.

Seán Fay / Eurosport