This Saturday Bolton welcomed Eccles RFC back to Avenue Street for the first time since they were promoted in 2009. Prior to the game Bolton sat at the top of the table 3 points ahead of Eccles in 2nd place, with the rivalry still strong between the two sides, an unbeaten home record to defend and top spot up for grabs this match had the makings of a true local derby…

Bolton started kick off towards the clubhouse and a strong chase from the forwards pack put the visitors under immediate pressure. Eccles responded and showed their willingness to run with ball in hand using their big forwards and hard running backs. Over zealousness at the ruck around 10 minutes in gave Eccles the opportunity to kick for the corner and set up the rolling maul. Bolton defended this poorly and a break down the blindside opened up the scoring for the Salford based side. With the conversion missed Bolton walked back to the half way line 0-5 down and with a greater determination than they had shown in the opening exchanges.

The men in red regained possession shortly after the restart and started to put some phases together. Strong carries from Tony McLaughlin, man-of-the-match James Brodie and Ash Cooper summed up Bolton’s desire to break down their opposition’s defence however Eccles showed why they have competed well at this level for the last few seasons and held off the Bolton onslaught albeit at the cost of two penalties which the returning Mark Doherty stepped up to convert giving –Bolton the lead and the momentum in the game. Bolton lost the services of Louis Critchlow at this point due to a nasty facial injury and Gaz Pritchard came on with Brodie sliding into 2nd row.

This momentum continued in Bolton’s favour just moments later when an Eccles player was sin-binned by the official, however it came to an abrupt halt when a poorly judged tackle from Alex Youngman on the Eccles skipper saw him grounded with a suspected neck/spinal injury. This stoppage caused a 30 minute delay whilst ambulances and helicopter arrived to assess Alex and arrangements were made for the game to continue on the 2nd team pitch with the 3rd XV being moved down onto the training pitch. Critchlow returned to the pitch sporting some interesting facial bandages for the hospital bound Youngman.

When the game eventually restarted Bolton had lost their ascendancy and soon succumbed to giving away two silly penalties which the Eccles kicker had no problem in converting whilst 2nd row McLaughlin made his way off the pitch as the recipient of a yellow card. The half time whistle came with no further scores to either side and a reduced break due to the fast fading light meant a quick turnaround.

The second half went by without either team threatening a score for the majority and indeed the only thing the crowd had to shout about was the number of yellow cards being handed out by the official. The first one came to Bolton’s James Brodie who was penalised for handbags after a ruck in the Bolton 22, the Eccles player involved was also shown yellow and the penalty awarded to Bolton. Bate missed touch with the kick and provided Eccles with a chance to counter attack which they did well. They broke the Bolton line and were in for a sure fire try but the last pass showed all the nerves of a player in a derby and Bolton regained possession.

5 minutes later Will Bat was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Eccles player coach Sam Simpson. The Eccles players’ shouts from the bottom of the ensuing ruck, no doubt voiced at his embarrassment of being sat down by a back, were loud enough for the official to make a decision against the Cherry & Whites reducing Bolton to 13.

With Pritchard out in the backs Bolton were defending with just 6 forwards in the pack but impeccable defence by Ben Stubbs who had replaced Gareth Evans personified Bolton’s want for this game. Bolton continued to show this grit in the scrum when they managed to secure their own ball despite packing down with 6 players. With Brodie back into the fray Bolton started to mount an attack that saw them move slowly up field as the clock ticked down. A few minutes later Bolton were back to full strength and continued to pepper the Eccles defence in search of a try. Opportunities for 3 points were turned down by skipper Chris Cockton as Bolton attacked. Just 3 metres out a pass to Critchlow on the charge broke the gain line and would have provided front foot ball had it not been for the referee imagining forward pass. Eccles managed to clear their lines and the pressure was off.

Bolton regained the ball and once again began their attack up field. The official dished out his 6th card of the match to an Eccles player for an infringement at the ruck. The forwards were providing scrum half Andy Crimmins with good ball at the back of the ruck allowing him to feed fly half Singleton on the front foot. The ball was sent wide and a pin point miss pass from Doherty joining the line found Dave Bruen to dot over in the corner and spark jubilation from the side lines and the home team. With the score 11-11 and just 3 minutes on the clock Doherty stepped up with the chance to give Bolton the lead and likely the game too… The kick drifted wide of the uprights and meant that Bolton needed to attack again if they wanted the 4 points on offer.

The final 3 minutes went by without any further action and the game eventually petered out following a knock on. The draw means Bolton remain at the top of the league but they will be disappointed with their lack of concentration following the incident that cost them the game. Their unbeaten home record remains but they will view this as 2 points dropped, fingers crossed it doesn’t come back to haunt them later in the season.

Eccles hold on to 2nd place and will perhaps be happy coming away with something from the game but with a tough away trip to St Benedicts ahead a catch up game against Blackburn to play and Bolton travelling to Fleetwood they will have to be at their best to keep the gap to a minimum at the top.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Eccles player who spotted the injury to Alex Youngman and called a halt to the game. Alex was kept in overnight for observation but was released Sunday morning. No broken bones but badly bruised and suffering from concussion.