Tough opponents Value of Lune

A bit of a rusty start after a few weeks of disruption and holidays saw Bolton with a good sized squad turned up at Vale of Lune for a friendly match with the intention of trying out various options in the forwards and backs. As expected Vale proved sterner opponents in the loose and Bolton struggled to get clean ball for the backs. Scrums and line outs were good, with the different combinations of front rows causing mayhem amongst the opposition.

Vale pegged Bolton back for long periods of time in their own half, but some strong tackling by Jake Rimmer, Owen Lewis and Myles Garth kept the Vale boys on the back foot. Some great line breaks were filled by a lack of support, with more work required in training to keep the ball alive in open play.

The game was decided by a sole try from you know who (Captain Lewis Picton of course), and Jake Rimmer didn’t quite have the legs to knock the conversion over from out wide. Lewis Picton was denied a second as he was judged to have done a double movement as he went over, such to the dismay of Jim Sharples who was keen for the referee to revisit the TMO.

Some great breaks from Jake, Myles, Joel and Oliver McKeown were just not supported well enough, and concentration lapsed at crucial times in the plays, or the score could have been greater.

"Lovely Bruise" award went to Matthew Morrison with a cracking shiner on his debut and Man of the Match to Tom Mcnulty who took some great ball at full back.

Thanks to Vale for providing some very tough opposition, timely indeed given our fixtures in the coming weeks,