Hat-Trick Jack Shines Against Hawcoat Park

The new store room (or Towler’s Towers) looked out on to a very rainy and damp start to the season at Avenue Street. Our visitors, Hawcoat Park, had travelled down from Barrow following a lifeline at the end of last season, but the Cherry and White's were expecting a very hard encounter for the opening league match. Dave Crouch handed debuts to two of last seasons' Colts - Joe Speakman and Josh Holmes as well as James Kelly and new recruit Nick Duncan.

Pre-season had gone well and the squad had worked hard on a new game plan and now was the time to put all this hard work into action and the side did with aplomb on occasions. The home side battled well for the first fifteen to twenty minutes but were unable to convert possession in to points with two penalty opportunities pushed wide by stand in kicker Jack Robinson. Hawcoat Park responded but the Avenue Street defence held firm. Slowly, but surely Bolton began to take hold of the game with the forwards dominating in the set piece and in particular, causing havoc for the Hawcoat Park lineout. This consistent pressure resulted in further possession for Bolton which was finally converted with Robinson spotting a gap to run over for the first 5 pointer of the game. With Mark Doherty now on the field for the injured Josh Holmes, the kick was converted to open a 7-0 lead.

Bolton soon added to this, once again, courtesy of Robinson who outpaced a retreating defence caught out by a deft grubber from Doherty. The ground conditions played their part with Jack sliding from beyond the 5m line with ball in hand to cross the line despite a number of Hawcoat players attempting to stop the grounding.

Hawcoat responded with a driving maul after a silly penalty from a Bolton forward and despite the mass of bodies over and under the ball, the official awarded a try but with the conversion missed Bolton were still in the driving seat.

Doherty added a 3 pointer from in front of the posts to close out the half 17-5 and Bolton feeling comfortable going into the second 40 minutes.

Bolton started the second half in much the same way they ended the first, with a constant barrage of attacks on the Hawcoat defensive line. The visitors held out for long periods but Bolton eventually crashed over only to be deemed held up. With the option of an earlier penalty or a 5m scrum, stand in captain Louis Critchlow showed faith in his pack and opted for the put in to the scrum. With Manny Tailor on to bolster the front row, Bolton were able to control the set piece and create a simple dot down for number 8 Niall Murphy which Doherty was unable to convert - given the conditions it was understandable, but it meant Bolton ended up 8 points short at the final whistle.

The wet conditions made handling difficult for both sides, but Bolton's ability to move the ball despite the rain proved the difference between the two sides. Hawcoat defense held tight in the close quarters but when the ball was moved wide through debutant stad off Joe Speakman, Bolton had the upper hand and Doherty was the beneficiary with a dart down the left hand touch line for the days 4th try and the crucial winning bonus point.

Hawcoat responded with a try of their own in the left hand corner after a deft offload from a visiting forward opened up space for their winger. A wide kick left the score at 27-10.

Dominance at the lineout continued and a well worked driving maul from around 8m out provided an armchair ride of a try for second row Critchlow to claim. The days 5th try and at 32-10 with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock Bolton felt sure of the victory.

Hawcoat Park did not lie down though and after some continued possession in the middle of the field they finally broke through the home side defensive line but a last ditch challenge from Jonny Stanfield halted a sure fire try. Hawcoat piled on the pressure just a few metres out and nearly created a score only for white line fever to kick in and a penalty was awarded to Bolton for double movement. With most of the players on the field thinking Hawcoat had scored, Chris Cockton spied a quick tap opportunity and ducked under an attempted tackle into unfamiliar territory - 80m of open space.... Thankfully young gun Robinson was on hand to take the pass and outpace the retreating defenders to score his 3rd and the team's 6th of the game. Another missed conversion from the usually dependable Doherty brought an end to the game and a solid victory for the Cherry and Whites.

Having reflected on the game, Head Coach Dave Crouch said "The team played very well for their first full game and it was very pleasing to win at home and secure the bonus point. Louis Critchlow lead the side very well in the absence of Rhys Pritchard. We did have one or two first XV players not available but those who played really ‘stood up to the plate’ and produced a pleasing performance. Yes we do still have things to work on but generally a great start to the season. Well done everyone!"