Bolton Lose Out At Hutton

Understandably, Bolton were in confident form, and straight from the kick off, the Bolton forwards tore into the opposition. Hutton however had only lost one match all season themselves, and so provided strong opposition both up front and in the backs.

Bolton attempted to use the strong wind at their backs in the first half, and gained a lot of territory, leading to several try scoring opportunities, none of which were converted. Debutant full back Mark Doherty and Louis Critchlow both came close, but Bolton had to make do with a penalty from Doherty, to give them a well earned 3-0 lead.

Hutton predictably came back strongly and there strong running Number Eight barged over from close range after a sustained period of pressure. The try was converted and a penalty was added before half time to give Hutton a 10-3 lead.

Bolton were very much in the match, and again started the second period well, although a missed tackle on the wing allowed Hutton to score their second try, which was converted to give the home side a 17-3 lead.

The Cherry and Whites rallied and after some strong running from Ash Cooper and Matthew Parrish, they found themselves in the Hutton 22. Skipper Chris Cockton, found his jumper at the subsequent line out, and Parrish stormed over for a well deserved score. Doherty converted to put Bolton within a converted try at 17-10.

The match at this point could have gone either way, with James Howarth and Chris Flanagan, both testing the Hutton defence, but despite their efforts and those of Geoff Earle, Hutton’s resolute defence could not be breached.

Bolton continually shot themselves in the foot by giving away a string of needless penalties, these led to a Hutton scrum five metres from the Bolton line, where the Hutton Number Eight again picked up and scored, denying Bolton a losing bonus point, and giving the score-line a rather unbalanced look at 24-10.

Bolton can take great heart from the performance against last season’s second placed side, and the side with the best defence in the league. They will certainly fancy their chances in the return fixture at Avenue Street later in the season.

The Cherry and Whites will attempt to get back to winning ways this Saturday at home against Littleborough.

MOTM - Louis Critchlow