On Paper Underdogs Take Victory

The Cherry and Whites still find themselves in a possible relegation battle, but this bonus point victory puts them points clear of the drop zone with three league games left.

The match started in a positive fashion, with fly half Rhys Pritchard producing a lovely hanging kick off, giving the fired up home pack the opportunity to fire into their opponents straight from the start. This set the tone for the first quarter, as Bolton dominated possession and territory unleashing their power runners Louis Critchlow, Chris Mee, Ash Cooper and Matthew Parrish to devastating effect. On the back of this territorial and physical dominance, scrum half Mark Doherty and prop Sam Hilton were providing some lovely ball for the likes of Geoff Earle and John Keech, who constantly broke the gain line.

Bolton’s opening score seemed inevitable, and it was Critchlow who bulldozed his way over from ten metres, Doherty converted and Bolton had a well deserved lead.

The visitors though are sitting pretty in the top six in the lead, and were always going to provide a challenge, which they duly did in the next five minutes, forcing Bolton back into their 22, only for superb lineout work from Chris Newman stopping their attack. This spurred Bolton on further and the backs started to get their hands on the ball, capitalizing on the unseasonably hot conditions. Outside centre Chris Flanagan, winger Ryan Wignall and Full Back Danny Joseph, all beat their first man, which enables Bolton to set up camp in Hawcoat’s half.

The inevitable second try followed, with Doherty’s quickly taken tap penalty allowing him to scoot over the opponent’s line. He missed the conversion, but Bolton now had a 12-0 lead.

Hawcoat replied with a penalty, but Bolton rounded of an impressive first half with their third try from Ryan Wignall, and the half time score was 17-3.

Bolton now knew that a try bonus point was within their reach if they could score the all important fourth try. They were successful and Chris Flanagan beat the Hawcoat outside backs to give Bolton a potentially vital five point haul, and at 22-3, this seemed inevitable.

However, for the next fifteen minutes, Bolton seemed to completely switch off and allowed Hawcoat an unlikely route back into the match. The away side capitalised on some poor Bolton tackling and scored two tries in quick succession, leaving a previously dominant Bolton side only one score in front.

Bolton now knew it was very possible they could throw away their lead, but through the leadership of Captain Chris Cockton and the penetrative runs of substitute Bobby Bolton, Bolton rallied and added three further tries before the end.

This was a huge victory for Bolton, and gives them great confidence going into next weekend’s double header against Burnley on Saturday and Ashton in the semi-final of the Lancashire Bowl on Sunday.