Fleetwood 8-18 Bolton

It was the second time that Bolton had travelled to Fleetwood this season to play the league fixture. The first time the players and supporters drove through a monsoon and tried to act surprised when the home pitches were found to be waterlogged on their arrival. This Saturday the weather looked fine and although the pitch was stickier than it first appeared the Bolton supporters and coaching staff looked forward to watching their first match in 3 months without getting drenched in the process.

After failing to get going in the mud so far in 2016 Bolton knew they had to put in a better performance than in recent weeks. Having only narrowly beaten Fleetwood at the Theatre of Trees a fortnight ago they knew they would be in for a tight struggle against a large and combative pack of forwards, and so it proved. Bolton kicked off and had the early pressure, but not for the first time this year they were unable to convert the pressure into points. Basic errors at the set piece and kicking from hand kept the home team in the game and Fleetwood’s first meaningful piece of possession led to powerful running in the midfield by their back row and a 40 metre dash to the line for the first try of the afternoon. Bolton hit back: Chris Mee, Louis Critchlow, Ash Cooper and Mike Richardson had been running strongly and making hard yards and further pressure led to a kickable penalty. Mark Doherty, playing his first match in a month, duly obliged, but Fleetwood hit back straight from the restart with a penalty of their own to lead 8-3 at half time.

Even before the match Bolton had been disrupted when Louis Townsend had injured himself opening his front door (not a euphemism – it actually happened) and was unable to start, and knocks to James Higgins, Ash Cooper and Louis Critchlow meant that skipper and hooker Chris Cockton played most of the match in the second row. Given the situation it shows the character of the Bolton squad that they were able to start the second half very much on the front foot. The errors of the first half were eradicated, and with Harry Stocks providing quick ball from scrum half Bolton began the play to something like their potential. Doherty kicked a penalty to edge Bolton closer and then a break by Mike Richardson in midfield took him to the Fleetwood 22 where he drew the last defender and found Will Bate in support to score under the posts, taking the visitors into the lead for the first time. Doherty converted, but Fleetwood came back through their big runners and although the Bolton defence held firm they conceded a couple of kickable penalties, both of which were missed. The visitors were to have the final say when Ryan McClusky raced clear and fed Kieran Shacklock to score in the corner. The Bolton colts’ coach who has taken Ryan throughout his junior career reckoned that was his first ever pass, so it was a successful introduction to senior rugby and a whole new world of distribution, and it sealed the win for the Cherry and Whites.

So signs that Bolton are coming to life again as the weather warms up and the going improves. The larger Fleetwood forwards proved a stern test, but the visitors’ defence held firm for the most part, and although far from fluent themselves they found enough to win a difficult match.

MoM – Mike Richardson