Under 13s v Tarleton

With the weather improving and the plate final beckoning, the Bolton under 13's turned up at Tarleton ready to play.

From the pre match hype, our opponents were confident that their cup team would cause the boys some big problems and a team playing on a "council" owned pitch wouldn't know what to do to combat it. The flat response from Jim Sharples senior set the right tone in that we would face anyone and deal with them as required to the best of our ability.

From the off Tarleton made their intent clear and span it out to the large aggressive wingers. Bolton easily held them but committed too many to the breakdown and left a gap on the opposite wing for a quick try. From the restart Tarleton again attacked hard but were repelled by Seb Donnelly, Catain Lewis Picton and Piers Skeels Caldwell. Some strong runs and typical ruck ball smashed large holes in the Tarleton midfield to set up Lewis Picton for the first try.

From the kickoff, a fumble put us on the back foot with a scrum against us deep in our territory. Not to be phased Ethan Greenwood once again recovered the ball, despite a crooked feed and a very large opposition front row, Pressure off or so we thought, but some mix up in the middle let Tarleton in to take the lead again.

Given this wasn't going to be an easy day, we soon played to our strengths and looked to make inroads down the middle. Quick as a flash Myles Garth spotted a gap and took a sweet ball from Jake Rimmer to pull back into the game.

Half time came and the match was in the balance, with our opponents rushing up very quick and spoiling ball on the ground in an attempt to stop the red tide from blowing them away.

From the outset we made two mistakes and were punished heavily with two tries to stare defeat in the face, It looked like our nerves and lack of recent game time were going to cost us dear, and once again it was left to the senior boys to find a way to dig themselves out of the mess they had ended up in. With the opposition touchline cheering like they had won the game, Bolton took a deep breath and decided that enough was enough.

From one to eight the forwards played like men possessed and a constant tide of red was only halted by some strange decisions at the breakdown and in the tight plays. The onslaught finally paid off as Sean hammered his way over the line despite having what looked like a large hairy necklace draped round his neck and head (well done my friend for keeping going there).

From the kickoff no mistakes were made and a great move to Joel Matthews put the ginger winger down the line only to be held up and bundled into touch five yards short. From the line out Tarleton seemed to throw the ball straight to the scrum half and Bolton pressured them into touching down over their own line. A simple scrum you may think with a large overlap and the opposition nervously watching Seb and Myles waiting to hurl themselves into the fray. Al Harris had other ideas and decided to break blind, losing possession and giving our opponents an easy play to relieve the pressure.

With the clock ticking down, Bolton were now throwing everything they had into the game, George Whitehead and Connah Mansfield blowing heavy but still driving and clearing the Tarleton boys away. Held up on the line and with opponents diving in offside and lying on the ball there seemed no way over until Piers Skeels Caldwell, all 4 foot 3 inches and 5 stone wet through decided to take a low line to score.

Yet again Jake Rimmer made the kick to give Bolton a narrow victory on the day.

Final now chaps - lets enjoy the day and try to make it a memorable occasion.