Bolton 1st xv 10 v 31 Tarleton 1st xv

The home side were hit with an early warning sign as the strong Tarleton midfield ran straight through some soft Bolton tackles to take the lead before Bolton had got a foothold in the match. The pressure kept coming, and Tarlton's attack was proving too quick for Bolton to reorganise in defence, and after some resistance, Tarleton scored again and were 12-0 up in as many minutes.

The Cherry and Whites briefly rallied, and found some joy round the fringes through the tireless Ash Cooper and Dave Ormes. Despite this fight back, yet another soft piece of defence allowed Tarleton to score their third try of the match with 25 minutes on the clock.

After more good work in the tight from Sam Hilton and Chris Mee, Bolton secured lineout ball in Tarleton's 22 and after successfully sucking in Tarleton's pack, released debutant winger Jamie Cairns to score in the corner, and give Bolton some much needed impetus in the match.

Despite this positive moment, a combination of excellent running from Tarleton and continued sloppy defence from Bolton, led to the away side's third try of the half, which left the score 19-5 at half time.

This was almost the exact position Hutton were in last week against Bolton, and they went on to win, so the home side felt positive going into the second period. This hope was however dashed early on, as Tarleton yet again powered through the Bolton defence.

The home side played well for patches in the second half, with the set piece in particularly providing a solid platform, but unfortunately, the good periods of play were too sporadic and any mistakes were soon pounced upon by Tarleton, who scored a further try before the end of the match. Bolton at this stage were chasing the game, and scored themselves through John Stryker.

Bolton can take solace from the fact they have played three of the top sides so far this season, and there will be easier challenges to come, but they also must start to make their tackles in what is proving to be, a physically demanding league this season.