Slowly but surely!

Leigh 16 Bolton 13

Bolton travelled to fourth placed Leigh on Saturday. The last game when the two sides played each other at Bolton, it ended in a ten all draw. The weather was fine, and a strong wind was blowing down the pitch.
The match started and within two minutes Bolton had a penalty just outside the Leigh twenty-two. Rhys Pritchard stepped and kicked the penalty so that Bolton had an early lead. Leigh were under a lot of pressure from Bolton but a series of penalties given by Bolton, led them to have a kickable penalty in the ninth minute which they converted. In the thirty-first minute Bolton scored their first try. Bolton had a throw inside the Leigh twenty-two and a rolling maul led to a ruck near the Leigh line. James Singleton tried and inside ball to Niall Murphy and he was tackled just short of the line and then James Singleton picked the ball from the ensuing ruck to score. In the forty-third minute Bolton did another driving maul from the lineout, which eventually formed a ruck. Kyle Anderson scored down the blindside after from quick hands from James Singleton and Niall Murphy.

Half time score Bolton 13 Leigh 3

Leigh opened the second half with rather a quick try from the Bolton kick-off. They also had the wind behind them in the second half and their fly-half used that wind to good effect. He pinned Bolton back in their half nearly every time they made a foray into the Leigh half. Bolton played some good rugby but a strong defence by Leigh made it difficult for them to make ground. Once or twice Rhys Pritchard and Keiran Shacklock managed to break through the Leigh defence. Leigh kicked a penalty in the forty-ninth minute to draw level. They took the lead in the fifty-eight minute with a penalty kick. In the last seven minutes of the game Bolton had a couple of chances to score. One the first occasion they gave way a penalty when they were pressing towards the Leigh line. The second chance was when Jack Robinson made a superb break from inside his own half and just had the fullback to beat, unfortunately the Leigh fullback tackled Jack and the chance was lost.

Final score: Leigh 16 Bolton 13

It was a hard-fought contest with Leigh just coming out on top. Bolton showed great spirit and determination to get so close to winning the game.

Man of Match: James Singleton