After being invited to be the second opposition to test the new stadium, 25,000 home fans drawn from a ballot were afforded the chance to watch some live football at the soon-to-be 53,000 capacity new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Wanderers drafted first team players like Jay Matete, Klaidi Lolos, Carlos Mendes Gomes and Blues old boy Gethin Jones into the squad and also welcomed back senior stars like Ricardo Santos, Kyle Dempsey and Kion Etete from injury.
But it was young keeper Luke Hutchinson who stole the show with three excellent saves, in a 1-0 defeat here Bolton didn’t really make their extra experience count.
“It’s a fantastic stadium, with a good crowd, particularly for the younger players,” Taylor told the club. “It's a bigger crowd than they’ve probably ever played in front of and possibly ever will play in front of, so it was a great experience for them in terms of that.
“So, in terms of an experience and a spectacle, brilliant. We're really chuffed to have been invited down to play and take part in the game but in terms of the game, I just felt like it was an opportunity that sort of passed us by, really.
“We didn't make the most of the experience and play with enough tempo, enough energy and enough enthusiasm. I understand it's a friendly and I understand there's not three points at stake but we needed more of that.
“It's a game of football and you want to go and win, you want to go and compete and you want to go and get the better of your direct opponent. It was a bit bitter-sweet, really, if I'm honest.”
Santos, Dempsey and Etete came through unscathed and the game was ended just before the 70-minute mark as part of plans to test a mass evacuation of fans and gain a safety certificate.
Dempsey posted a message on social media after his first appearance in Bolton colours since October and now hopes to play some part in the run-in.
“Well, it’s been a real rollercoaster of emotions for five months with this knee, at one stage my season was done and dusted and needing another surgery,” he wrote. “But I was finally back out there today doing what I love. Got 45 mins in the tank and it felt great!”
Wanderers will turn their attention towards the trip to Blackpool this weekend and reviving their own chances of the top six.
But there was a bright note for the afternoon in the performance of keeper Hutchinson, whose saves livened up a quiet atmosphere at the brand-new stadium before Kingsford Boakye finally broke the deadlock after half time.
The 22-year-old is out of contract this summer but made his senior debut for the Whites in the Vertu Trophy earlier this season against Aston Villa and has been around the first team picture for a few years.
“He did really well,” Taylor said of the goalkeeper’s display. “Once he settled down his distribution was really good, he was finding spare men, dropping things over the press, and made a couple of really good saves.
“It was brilliant to get some of the youth players on and I’m really pleased I got the opportunity to do that and to get them a little taste of it was really good.
“I'm grateful that we were able to do that for them and it will stick with them. There’s just a bit of an underlying tone of disappointment and it just feels like a bit of an anti-climax.”