Hard fought encounter brings no reward for Bolton 1st XV

So far honours were even with each team taking one scalp. Last minute cry-offs saw yet more re-shuffling and an unfortunate blow to centre and resident cripple Dave Bruin in the pre-match warm up meant Wignall stepped up to centre and Tom Relph started on the wing. This left Bolton with no substitutes in what was no doubt to be a physically demanding game.

The first half started with Bolton kicking in to the wind, a beautifully weighted ball from Danny Joseph landed just over the 10 for the onrushing Bolton forwards to collect and begin their battle upfield. As always hard running from back row Louis Critchlow made ground for Bolton but poor rucking in the first 10 minutes saw ball being constantly turned over. Edwards looked to spin the ball wide quickly but were constantly met with hard defence from Boltons back line. Not being able to break the gain line the home team opted to use the boot to gain territory. A kick deep into the Bolton 22 was collected by Doherty but a good chase put pressure on the full back. From the ensuing break down the clearance kick was rushed and caught up in the strong breeze bringing it back towards the Bolton try line. The only reaction was from the home side who climbed high to claim the ball and the 5 pointer! Conversion was missed .

The restart did not travel 10 metres and Edwards opted for the scrum. Edwards had obviously done their homework and knew the Bolton front 8 would pose a threat, so to counteract Bolton’s strong scrum Edwards constantly made no effort on the engage or drive. The referee managed to get himself, wrongly, on the home team’s side and made no attempt to take control of the Edwards forwards. Edwards continued to attack through both their forwards pack around the fringes and off the shoulder of their 10, and through their backs by spinning it wide. One such wide attack broke through Bolton’s defence but good last-man tackling brought the winger down just 5 metres out. Bolton immediately set up their goal-line defence and snuffed out attack after attack sending Edwards sideways and backwards, hard defence was rewarded with turnover ball and Bolton managed to clear their lines. Bolton then saw this as their opportunity to attack and did so through a number of tight drives and quick backs play. Eventually Edwards conceded a penalty 25 metres out but the kick was put narrowly wide. From the ensuing 22 drop out Bolton restarted their attack once again using the momentum of their forwards pack and hard running lines from Wignall in the centres. Unfortunately, the home side managed to turn the ball over at the break down and clear their lines. A quick line-out from winger Relph saw him release number 8 Newman down the 5 metre channel and slick handling between several players saw Bolton gain 40 metres, however the back tracking number 7 bundled the Bolton winger into touch. At this point in-discipline caused St Edwards to be awarded a penalty and once again they were able to clear their lines.

Half-time 5-0

Bolton began the second half brimming with the confidence of the last 20 minutes of the first half, however they were not to know that the referee had suddenly found some scouse blood in himself and taken a liking to the home team. Yet again Bolton’s strong scrum was undone by a combination of poor match official management and the fact that the Edwards forwards refused to take the initial hit without going backwards.

Fantastic stealing work at the breakdown from Newman and Evans was disgracefully penalised by the referee just 30 metres out and whilst the Bolton side looked to the match official in utter disbelief the Edwards scrum half tapped and went over the whitewash before anyone had chance to re-act.

This decision riled the Bolton team and exchanges began to get rather tasty at every breakdown, yet again the official made no real attempt to take control of the game and a number of malicious actions were consistently un-punished on both sides. Bolton once again marched up the field and from a penalty opted for the line out. The ball hit its target and the driving maul formed, at this point the St Edwards forwards illegally came around the side to kill the drive which was eventually penalised. A quick tap by Cockton made Bolton a few extra yards as Edwards had not retreated but for some reason Bolton were not gifted the full extra 10... Yet another decision that had the Bolton team asking questions. Bolton opted for the scrum and began their usual slog towards the line with the ball at number 8’s feet, at this point Edwards started to turn the scrum illegally but Bolton stayed straight and continued their drive towards the line. Once again the official defied belief and gave the decision to Edwards stating that the scrum had gone 90 – an utterly perplexing decision being that the entire Bolton pack were still facing towards the line….

Edwards mounted yet another attack and made the most of a dog-legged Bolton defence to spin the ball wide and through quick use of the hands managed to break the line for their third try and arguably one they actually deserved. Conversion once again missed. With 5 minutes still to go Bolton attacked in search of at least a loosing bonus point, an infringement around the half-way mark saw a scuffle, once again involving the Edwards number 6 and the referee saw this as his opportunity to get away quickly calling and end to the game with time still left on the clock!!

An utterly disappointing result for Bolton following on from last weeks hard fought victory but once again unavailablility and last minute changes meant Bolton were unable to field an unchanged side. This is a luxury that Bolton have not had at all this season and something that ideally needs to be worked on in the future. This loss sets up a hard fight to the end of the season if Bolton are to avoid the drop.