After the hard work put in by the Bolton forwards last week away at Eccles, the backs proved their worth this Saturday running in 7 of the 8 tries between them and with every starting back getting on to the scoresheet...

Garstang kindly agreed to play the Semi-Final game after they were unable to fulfil their home league fixture due to waterlogged pitches. The pitches down at Avenue Street couldn't have been in much better condition considering the downpours they sustained over the last week and the money invested in them is really starting to prove its worth.

The game kicked off in near perfect conditions, with Bolton electing to play in to the wind for the 1st half. Garstang attempted to use the weather to their advantage with a deep kick off and a strong chase that was collected by number 8 James Brodie. A bullocking run from the back rower got Bolton on to the front foot and with Will Bate at 9, the Bolton forwards soon found themselves crashing in to their Garstang counterparts at a rapid rate of knots. The speed at which Bolton were attacking was causing Garstang a number of problems and it wasn't long before fly half James Singleton was calling for the ball to bring his sizeable back line in to play.

Mike Mills was finding the ball in his possession with regularity from his centre partner Dave Bruen and cutting angles that his opposite number was struggling to deal with. Outside Mills, Mike Richardson was enjoying the game of his season as he worked hard to get on to the end of anything coming his way. The disappointment of his sanction earlier in the week had no doubt fired up the large winger to make a last hurrah before beginning his 4 week sentence. One such run saw him power over his opposite number and break several attempted tackles before he was eventually bundled in to touch. The speed of Bolton's play caused Gartstang to give away a penalty that Doherty unfortunately pushed wide.

The Garstang line out functioned well all day and Bolton were unable to disrupt it quite as much as they may have liked to, but the home sides fringe defence and sterling work at the ruck from flankers Alex Youngman and Ash Cooper ensured that Garstang did not keep the ball for long. After a strong carry from Tony McLaughlin broke the gain line the second row found himself in open space with no idea what to do, so he continued to run until he was felled by a covering defender. Richardson then immediately found himself in the action as he took a cheeky inside ball from Bate around the ruck and charged the 25 metres to the try line dodging the full back on the way to give Bolton a more than deserved 5-0 lead. As has become customary this season, Doherty obliged with the extras.

Bolton had now found their rhythm and Garstang were hard pressed to stop the onslaught that came over the next 10 minutes. A scrum 5m out gave Bolton a great platform from which to attack. The visitors attempted to disrupt the drive illegally and with the advantage in their favour Cooper picked and drove towards the whitewash. His support soon arrived and the speed of the recycling meant that Bate could find Singleton who fed Bruen through a gap to go underneath the posts. Doherty, once again added a further 2 points.

Next it was Singleton's turn to get himself on the scoresheet. Hard running down the middle of the pitch from Louis Critchlow and Brodie sucked in the defenders and an offload to Bate and subsequent wide pass to Singleton saw the number 10 glide through an attempted tackle to go over the line with Doherty once again keeping the scoreline ticking over for the Cherry & Whites. 21-0.

The 25 minutes of fast flowing rugby had taken its toll on Bolton a little and Garstang took their chance to come back at Bolton. Their set piece continued to function well and from a line out they put Bolton under the cosh with a strong rolling maul that eventually petered out due to some determined Bolton defence, however Garstang maintained possession and continued their assault on the Bolton line. Eventually, Bolton were able to turn the ball over but a clearance kick into the wind missed touch and the Garstang full back returned the ball with a scything run that got them into Bolton's 22. A shuddering hit from tight head prop Chris Mee put an end to that attack and Brodie collected the loose ball to charge down field in another impressive performance.

Despite several phases and Bolton maintaining possession the home side could just not find a way through and errors started to creep into their game with Garstang making the most of it with a series of attacks. Bolton's defence has been outstanding this season though and this weekend it was no different with every player standing up to be counted.

A short word from captain Chris Cockton about not letting up was all the lads needed to spring back in to action and soon found themselves close to the Garstang try line thanks again to the irrepressible Mike Richardson who managed to beat several defenders down the right hand touchline. Singleton moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, with the forwards pack only too wiling to oblige and attack the opposite touchline. Singleton then found Doherty who joined the line from full back. His input broke the gain line and the ball was once again thrown wide to Singleton who went round his opposite number and found Mills in support who took the ball and ghosted in under the sticks for the final score of the 1st half. Doherty took the score to 28-0.

One final attack could have added to Bolton's points tally had it not been for the interference of stalwart prop Sam Hilton. Cockton found himself in possession of the ball close to the touchline and upon drawing his defender gave the ball wide expecting Richardson to come charging on to it, only to see Hilton collect it and in a moment of irrational thinking attempt to chip the Garstang winger, but he only succeeded in bringing and end to the half as the ball went off the pitch.

At half time, Nick Holmes rang the changes in the forwards and asked for more of the same with replacements Rick Newman and Simon Frost entering the field for Louis Critchlow and Chris Mee respectively. Neither player disappointed and put in strong performances to keep Bolton on top.

Bolton were soon on the score sheet again this time thanks to interplay between backs and forwards. A slick move from Singleton to Bruen opened up the Garstang defence and a short pop to Cockton running a great arcing line broke the gainline. Cockton was dragged down but not before he could off load to the supporting Doherty who kicked through for winger Andrew Murtagh to chase down and claim the 5 pointer. The wind was now starting to pick up and Doherty pushed his conversion attempt wide.

Bolton continued their dominance and were awarded with a penalty 5m out for an offence by a Garstang player at the breakdown. Cockton opted for the scrum and Bolton packed down with the aim to drive the ball over the line. Newman controlled beautifully at 8 but Garstang started to wheel it. With the penalty advantage in their favour, Bate gambled picking the ball from the base of the scrum and dived over the line to add his name to the long list of try scorers. Doherty was back on target with his kick and the score moved to 40-0. Holmes made further changes bringing on Andrew Crimmins for Bruen, with Bate reverting to inside centre and Crimmins slotting in at 9 whilst also bringing Chris Mee back on to the field for Cockton with Sam Hilton moving to hooker.

The weather was now starting to play a big factor in the fluidity of the game with the rain coming in strongly. Bolton's line out which had functioned perfectly all day started to falter and Garstang regularly found themselves in possession at this set piece. Bolton reverted to a more forwards based game and Ash Cooper found himself over the line thanks to the hard work of his fellow team mates making ground up the pitch. Doherty unable to add the extras from out wide. 45-0.

Workhorse Tony McLaughlin was brought off for the final few minutes of the game with Louis Critchlow returning to the action. And it turned out to be an inspired substation as Critchlow soon found himself through a gap in the visitors defence and began his charge down field egged on by the smattering of supporters that remained on the touch line. However a determined Garstang defender chased him down but not before the ball found its way to the ever present Youngman and on to Brodie.

From the back of a scrum some 30 metres out, Bolton enjoyed their final attack of the game. Will Bate received the ball and set about on one of his usual trademark runs, cutting defenders down and leaving attempted tacklers in his wake to go over the line for his second of the game and his 11th of the season. Doherty was once again unsuccessful in the strong wind and the game came to a close with Bolton 50-0 winners.

The win puts the Cherry & Whites into the final, due to be played on 5th May, meaning that they can now turn their attention to continuing their league form and challenging for promotion. Hopefully they can bring some of the excellent play from Saturday into next weekends home fixture against Fleetwood and extend their unbeaten home record to 16 months.