Hill scores a try off the post!

Aldwinians v Bolton under 15’s
17/2/13

Bolton travelled the few miles over to Ashton under Lyne today in bright sunshine, which was unusual as every time in the last few years it has been pouring down when this fixture has been played.

The Bolton boys were up for a good game after their emphatic win last week, but knew it would be a hard fought battle which they had to face without a few regular players missing due to holidays and other commitments. Never the less they had a squad of 16 with the addition of Danny who was welcomed back into the team for the first time this season.

Aldwinians won the toss and decided the Bolton lads would have to face the glare of the sun and also play into a bitter cold but slight wind, and from the kick off everybody could see it was going to be a brutal game with no quarter given by each side.

The first 15 minutes saw Bolton more or less camped in the Aldwinians’ half of the pitch and a succession of hard fought scrums and some great passing along the back line allowed the first try to be scored far over on the opposite side of the pitch. At a scrum the ball was won by the forwards and passed effortlessly out by Joey Gore where a clever play between Josh, Tom Hill and Michael resulted in Michael crashing over for the well deserved score. The conversion was just as well put away by Tom Hill from near the touch line, 7-0 for Bolton.

After the restart Bolton continued applying the pressure and were able to switch the ball from one side of the pitch to the other as well as put in some storming runs, notable was a darting run by Danny so reminiscent of his previous games only to slip when a try was surely on the cards.

There was an unfortunate incident close to half time when in our 22 two of the Aldwinians lads somehow ran into each other so hard that both had to leave the pitch which necessitated a few minutes stoppage.

The second half kicked off and again straight away the lads were on the attack, fighting for every ball in the loose and in rucks and mauls, which was so good to see after all the hard work put in by the coaches and lads over the last few weeks

There were a number of scrums many of which had to be reset following minor infringements which didn’t help the play flow. But from a lineout Will McCambridge stole the ball and hurled a 20m pass to Danny Turner for a surge to the line. Jordan Ashton was first to the breakdown and unfortunately was stopped just a metre short by good home defence which also turned over the ball. The Aldwinians’ clearance kick cannoned into the uprights but Tom Hill held his nerve and kept his eye on the ball to field the spiralling kick, break a tackle and score in the corner again after a tremendous surging run. Tom some how managed to convert this from the tightest of angles. Score 14-0

Aldwinians now had the bit between their teeth and came back very strongly; scoring quickly and then having a penalty try awarded which was converted. Score 14-12.

A certain try was stopped by perhaps the best tackle of the game by Adam, who followed this with a run half the length of the pitch, simply awesome, much to the delight of the watching Bolton parents

Tempers and perhaps testosterone started to get the better of some of the lads and a few rucks and mauls ended with the referee having a few words with team captains and some players. However to their credit the Bolton lads continued to play good hard rugby which again after a number of failed attempts by the backs and forwards alike, Josh was able to run in a try over in the far corner, simply out accelerating past the flailing backs; after some excellent work by Firth Lord. Score 19-12

With the last few seconds of the game Aldwinians managed to score a try and a lucky conversion after which the referee quickly ended the game

Final score 19-19

Plus points from the day were the skills the lads are showing with ball in hand and passing, much more aggression is starting to come into their game and they are fighting for every ball. Tackling was good as was ball carrying, and their ability to get over the game line is improving as their confidence in their individual and the team’s skill grows.

Parents player was Adam
Players player was Jacob
Coaches award was shared between Josh and Michael who both excelled at 10 and 12 and have a great partnership developing.