Bolton take the points.
18 unanswered second-half points help Bolton secure back to back wins.
By Mark Down.
Aspull were the visitors to Avenue street on Saturday in this rearranged fixture. Dispite several players unavailable Head Coach Dave Crouch was still able to name a strong squad. The game kicked off in heavy rain and Aspull looked to take advantage of the conditions by testing out Bolton fullback Jack Robinson with some high balls, unfortunately the normally reliable Robbo had left his catching hands in the changing room and gifted Aspull both territory and possession from the restart scrums. A penalty on 10 mins after Bolton infringed at the brake down saw Aspull take an early lead, this was doubled almost immediately with another penalty for a similar offence.
Bolton slowly started to work their way into the game with both forwards and backs combining well to make good inroads into the Aspull 25,only strong defence from the visitors stopped Bolton getting any closer to the try line. Bolton's breakthrough came midway through the first half when Jack Robinson went over following excellent work from the forwards, with regular kicker Lewis Lockett absent kicking duties fell to Rhys Pritchard who added the extra 2 from out wide.
Half Time Bolton 7 Aspull 6
As the second half started Bolton knew that they needed to up their game and started strongly, dominance at the scrum and with the line out functioning well Bolton began to gain the upper hand, Aspull seamed content to kick for territory rather than retain possession which played into Bolton's hands with backs and forwards combining well and some good handling despite the wet conditions. Bolton was first on the scoreboard when Robbo went over for his second try of the day, Rhys again with the conversion. With the score at 14-6 the game was far from won, Aspull kept asking questions of the Bolton defence but they never looked like buckling. Two further Pritchard penalties kept the scoreboard ticking over, with the score a more comfortable 20-6 Bolton had to endure a ten min spell of Aspull pressure after number 8 Ben Cottam was shown a yellow card after his attempted interception was harshly deemed a deliberate knockdown. With Bolton down to 14 the defence stood firm and prevented Aspull from closing the score. once back to strength Bolton saved the best try of the day until last, a scintillating break from Rhys Pritchard from deep in his own half saw him jink his way downfield, draw the final defender and find winger Kieran Shacklock who went over in the corner, conversion missed.
Full Time Bolton 25 Aspull 6
Man Of The Match James Singleton...Bossed the first half, owned the second half!