Was Ryan in touch?

Aspatria 26 Bolton 20

Bolton travelled up the M6 to Aspatria to start their 2020 league campaign. They were accompanied by their loyal ‘Compost Corner’ supporters. The journey was punctuated by the obligatory stop at Tebay Services.
A massive thank you firstly to Barney Clegg for looking after our OAPs pre and post game.
Bolton started the game very well despite the fact they had a shortened preparation time. They gave away two penalties in the first eleven minutes which the Aspatria flyhalf converted. Then in the fifteenth minute, deep in the Aspatria twenty-two, Bolton re-cycled the ball four times before Simon Frost crashed over for his first try of the season. Again, Bolton were on the attack in the twentieth minute. From a scrum, the ball was quickly passed to Will Bate, who drew the defence which enabled fullback Keiron Shacklock to come in at an angle to beat the covering defence to score. Bolton were showing an effective scrummage technique which caused problems for Aspatria. Aspatria tried to move the ball wide on many occasions, but Bolton’s defence was very strong. Bolton gave away two further penalties in the twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth minutes for being offside at the ruck. The Aspatria flyhalf converted both. In the thirty-sixth minute, a yellow card was issued to Bolton; Aspatria were able to take advantage of the extra man and score two tries just before half-time and add the conversions. This was the only time that Aspatria were able to break the Bolton defence.

Half-time score: Aspatria 26 Bolton 10

Bolton started the second half in dominant form; within five minutes they scored a try when Jack Robinson took the ball from the scrum and scrambled over for a try. Will Bate added the conversion. At this stage the game was ebbing and flowing with both sides trying to get the advantage. Bolton were unlucky not to score with all their pressure. Finally, Will Bate added a penalty in the sixty-fourth minute. Bolton were edging forward towards victory, unfortunately in the last five minutes they had a try disallowed, and the Aspatria defence held firm close to their line.

Final score: Aspatria 26 Bolton 20

Bolton were rather unlucky not to come away with a win. That said, too many penalties enabled Aspatria to build a lead in the first half. Bolton did response well in the second half and tried to play some strong rugby, but they became flustered in the heat of the moment. Sometimes they tried too hard instead of looking for the easier options. The coach journey back and the stop off in Lancaster helped to ease some of the disappointment.

Man of the Match: Connor Orrel again!