Awesome in Audenshaw

Aldwinians started the game with a try in first four minutes after some cheeky work by the home side scrum half earned them a free kick which was taken quickly and scored out wide. The conversion was good and already it looked like Bolton could be in for another long afternoon!

Fortunately, the side rallied and that was to be the final time Aldwinians got within touching distance of the Bolton whitewash. Vice Captain Louis Critchlow scored Bolton’s first try of the afternoon in just under 10 minutes. A good passing movement between the forwards led to the second row crashing over to increase his tally to 8 for the season, making him the team’s leading try scorer. Conversion was kicked by Mike Mills who managed to add the two points to all 5 of Bolton’s tries.

Bolton were straight back on the attack with a very good try Joe Smith after an excellent break from scrum half Mark Doherty. Smith had backed up well and an inside pass from Doherty put him in under the posts. Mills had no problem with the conversion.
Bolton ran the ball well and created chances, the forwards defended manfully in a way that was missing last weekend and Critchlow was unlucky not to score again after an excellent passage of play from the both the forwards and the backs.

Captain Rhys Pritchard collected Bolton’s third try just before half time and Mills again added the conversion leaving Bolton in command at the break 7 – 21.

The second half started poorly for the home side, Aldwinians received the kickoff and moved it out to their player coach who chipped ahead to the halfway line, Doherty fielded the ball and passed to Jonny Stanfield who set off on an amazing run beating player after player with great pace and agility. Eventually he scored under the posts and Mills added the conversion once more to finish off the best individual try of the season so far and secure the bonus point.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes, Aldwinians enjoyed a large amount of possession but Bolton continued to defend with great commitment to deny them any further scores.

Bolton then responded with a very good attack and crashed over in the corner but with Aldwinians defenders in the fray the referee indicated it was held up. A subsequent attack led to a high tackle from the Aldwinians centre and the resulting penalty was converted by Mike Mills taking the scoreline to 31-7 and putting the result in no doubt as the clock wound down.

The Cherry and Whites had one final flourish after a lineout drive from 15 metres out gave Ash Cooper an armchair ride to pick up his first 5 pointer of the campaign.

Following on from the match, Dave Crouch said ”It was great to earn our first away win of the season and to collect a bonus point. Jonny’s try was particularly pleasing as it showed off his high skill level and is one of the best individual tries I’ve seen. We look forward to next week when we play hosts to the newly promoted Trafford MV at Avenue Street.”