After almost four months and 14 Premier League games without a win Sunderland's bleak midwinter finally ended last night. As the thermometer dropped to freezing point it did not exactly seem like spring but Steve Bruce's suddenly relaxed body language was that of a man who has just felt the sun's warmth on his back for the first time in a very long while.

Like Bolton, who began brightly enough but faded badly, Sunderland have not yet banished relegation fears but, thanks to Darren Bent's hat-trick and Fraizer Campbell's opener, their manager now has no reason to feel trepidation when he attends a scheduled formal meeting with his boss this morning.

More than an hour before kick-off Bruce stood in the centre circle deep in conversation with Ellis Short, Sunderland's owner. Given Fabio Capello's recent experience with bugging, perhaps it was the one place the pair felt confident of not being overheard as they presumably discussed the reasons behind the team's lack of victories since beating Arsenal in November.

Small wonder then that relief was writ large across Bruce's and Short's face as Campbell's first Premier League goal gave Sunderland a 44th-second lead. When Bolton only semi-cleared Anton Ferdinand's deep cross, Lorik Cana sent another ball back into the area for Campbell to latch on to before beating Jussi Jaaskelainen courtesy of a controlled, close-range volley.

It proved the cue for the recently underwhelming Cana, Campbell and Steed Malbranque in particular to recapture their early-season spike and sparkle.

"It's been a long time, a long winter," said Bruce. "The early goal gave everyone the confidence we needed. It's been tough and I'm not just talking about the north-east weather. I just feel relieved." And his tête-à-tête with Short? "I went outside to get some fresh air and who did I bump into but the owner," added Sunderland's manager before extolling the Texan's "supportive" stance.

Fears that Bruce would require post-match consolation receded when Malbranque, excellent on the left, helped create the second goal, playing in the hitherto disappointing Cattermole who slipped a lovely ball to Bent. Surging forward, he held off a clutch of markers to shoot powerfully, right-footed, past Jaaskelainen from just inside the penalty area. It was the sort of defender-confounding finish to make you think Bent should be on England's summer flight to South Africa after all. "Darren must be in Fabio Capello's thoughts," said Bruce. "He's a natural goalscorer."

It got worse for Bolton and even better for Bent. First Sam Ricketts was sent off for a second yellow-card offence, namely the gentle shove which sent Bent tumbling, thereby conceding a slightly controversialpenalty. Next the victim dusted himself down and converted that kick before subsequently completing a first Sunderland treble by shooting his 19th goal of the season through a crowded area after playing a lovely one-two with Campbell.

Despite enjoying a fair amount of possession and forcing several set pieces, Bolton rarely threatened Craig Gordon – even if Lee Chung-yong might have done better than shoot wildly over the bar when he might have equalised.

"With conceding so early and then going down to 10 men everything conspired against us," said Owen Coyle, Bolton's manager, who thought the already booked Cana should have been sent off for a heavy, knee-high, tackle on Vladimir Weiss and disputed both the penalty award and Ricketts's red card. "I thought we were very unfortunate."

If only his team had been as feisty.