A Winning Start to The Year

For their first game of 2019 Bolton travelled to Leigh with many of their supporters. Bolton had trained well during the week and were looking to do the ‘Double’ on Leigh with home and away wins.
Leigh started the game effectively, with their big forwards retaining the ball and trying to break down Bolton’s defence. In the fifth minute they were awarded a penalty which they converted. Bolton began to come into the game and their forwards started to dominate the scrums and rucks. In the eighteenth minute the ball was driven in twice by the Bolton forwards and was passed down the back line to Rhys Pritchard. He drew his man and passed to Josh Holmes, who in turn did the same and passed to Jonny Stansfield who scored – a classic try! In the twenty-ninth minute Bolton were awarded a penalty for off-side and Mike Mills converted it. Leigh made a couple of very good attempts to score but a brilliant cover tackle by Jonny Stansfield saved the try. In their second attempt, a great cover tackle from Chris Cockton saved another try. He tackled the forward, wrestled the ball from him and Bolton were able to kick to touch. The final score of the half came when Rhys Pritchard made a brilliant break, beating three men. He set the ball up for a ruck and James Singleton passed the ball to Gaz Pritchard to crash over the line. Mike Mills added the conversion
Half-time score: Leigh 3 Bolton 15
The second half started with Bolton very much on top. They were dominating possession but gave away penalties which allowed Leigh to clear their line. In the fifty-fifth minute Mike Mills missed a penalty. He made up for it by scoring the next try. Jonny Stansfield made another good break outside his opposite number, came back inside, drew the fullback and passed to Mike to score. The ‘Bonus point’ try came in the sixty-ninth minute when Bolton were encamped in Leigh’s twenty-two. James Singleton passed an inside ball to Niall Murphy who crashed over the try line, taking two or three Leigh forwards with him. Mike Mills added the conversion. Leigh in the seventy-first minute scored their only try of the match. The last try went to Bolton. The forwards drove hard down the pitch and a good break by Ben Cottam lead to a ruck. Bolton won the ball. Rhys Pritchard passed to Louis Critchlow who dived over the line.
Final Score: Leigh 8 Bolton 32
For the first game back after the Christmas break Bolton played well and their superior fitness showed in the end. Leigh tried to contain Bolton in the forwards. A strong forward display from Bolton negated anything they had to offer.
Man of Match: Chris Cockton