Mossley Hill 1st XV 5 v 73 Bolton 1st XV

Bolton expected a tough, physical battle against Mossley, who had impressed this season after gaining promotion. It was obvious from the kick off that Bolton's thorough preparation had paid off, as they began to dominate the contact and set piece areas. This dominance was allowing Bolton's power runners momentum, and it was through such a run that the Cherry and Whites scored their first try, as Ash Cooper scythed through a gap to score under the posts, Mark Doherty converted to give Bolton a well deserved 7-0 lead after only six minutes.

Mossley's pitch slopes drastically, and it appeared that it was going to be an uphill battle for the Merseyside hosts, as the elusive Will Bate scored the first of his two tries, sauntering through the would be tacklers. Doherty again converted and Bolton were 14-0 in the lead after 12 minutes.

Cooper continued the scoring with his second try eight minutes later, which was again converted by Doherty. Bate added his second and Bolton's fourth on the half hour mark after a searing run from Marcus O'Donohoe had opened up the Mossley defence. Doherty converted again to give Bolton the crucial four try bonus point and a seemingly unassailable lead before half time.

Captain Chris Cockton completed the scoring with a well taken try of his own following a sublime offload from number 8 Matthew Parrish, just before the half time whistle. Doherty added the extra two points, and a rampant Bolton side led 35-0 at the interval.

The second period saw no let up in Bolton's intensity as they continued to break tackles and find gaps in their host's defence. The next player to benefit was winger Mike Richardson, who powered over to cap an impressive display. The score was now 42-0 after 45 minutes. The ever eager Louis Critchlow stormed over five minutes later with a typical powerful surge from just 2 metres out.

In the following ten minutes, Bolton appeared to take their foot off the gas somewhat, allowing Mossley some possession and territory, resulting in a try for the hosts, which deprived Bolton of the clean sheet.

Man of the Match Chris Mee, who was dominant at both the set piece and in contact wreaked havoc throughout with a number of bone crunching hits and eye catching takes at kick offs. It was from one such kick off receipt where Bolton got back to scoring ways through Vice Captain Dave Bruen, who ran over from close range after excellent continuity from the pack.

The ever impressive Gaz Pritchard scored the next try, after another dynamic run from Matthew Parrish had scattered the Mossley defence, yet another conversion from Doherty meant the score was 61-5 with ten minutes left.

The final two tries came from Andrew Murtagh who picked an intelligent line through the defence, who didn't lay a hand on him as he strode over under the posts and Bruen who scored his second after a sixty yard dash from his own 22 saw him dive over in the corner.

This was a dominant display from Bolton who's diligence in training during the previous weeks had obviously paid off in a match where they were expecting a much tougher challenge from their hosts. With two matches remaining, Bolton need two wins including a bonus point to guarantee second place. They will look to start this next week with an away trip to Trafford MV.