And so it was. Fleetwood came hard at Bolton in the opening minute having received the kick off and elected to play into the wind in the first half. The Green & Golds's were met by Bolton's ever consistent defensive line though and soon succumbed to turning the ball over. From the ensuing scrum just inside the Fleetwood 22, Will Bate found fly half James Singleton, who put in a perfectly placed cross field kick for winger Rhys Pritchard to latch on to. Pritchard then stepped his man and went over the line for his 10th try of the season. Mark Doherty was unable to add the extras.

Bolton continued to attack their opposition with pace and skill with James Brodie and Louis Critchlow appearing all over the park to carry the ball in. One such period of play proved too much for the visitors who resorted to illegally killing the ball 5m out from their line. With the guilty player rightly in the sin bin for then attempting to prevent a quick tap, Chris Cockton elected for the points with Mark Doherty happy to oblige and Bolton walked back to the half way line with a 1 man advantage and an 8-0 score line.

Bolton knew that they must make the advantage count and continued to mount an attack on their opposition. After a scrappy period of play in the centre of the field with no side showing dominance, Bolton finally broke through thanks to some good work by Bate and Ash Cooper with Critchlow in support. On the back foot, Fleetwood were once again forced to concede a penalty to prevent a 5 point score. Doherty stepped up to add the points as the Fleetwood number 7 rejoined the action.

To their credit, Fleetwood did not give up and through a combination of strong carries and poor Bolton discipline, they found themselves in the Bolton half mounting a good attack on the Cherry and White's. Despite some sterling work in defence by Alex Youngman and MOM Rick Newman, Fleetwood broke through the line to within 5m of the Bolton try line. A rushed defence came back to cover but in a moment of hot headedness Doherty dragged the Fleetwood scrum half into the ruck giving away the penalty and seeing himself in the bin for 10 minutes. Fleetwood opted for the points and walked away happy with the score at 11-3.

With Doherty in the bin, Nick Holmes opted to bolster his back line knowing that 7 forwards was enough to keep Fleetwood at bay. Alex Youngman made way for Andrew Murtagh to come into the fray on the wing with Pritchard slotting in at full back.

Bolton did not let the 1 man advantage make a difference as they continued to attack in search of more points. It did not take long for an opportunity to arise with a penalty awarded some 40m out. With Doherty in the bin, Mike Mills stepped up to take the opportunity but the bull was pushed just wide.

Shortly after this, a flowing move found its way out to Liam Ray on the left wing and with the gap in his sights he set off only to pull up lame with a hamstring problem and he had to leave the field. Youngman returned to action on the wing whilst Doherty saw out the remainder of his sin binning.

From a line out on the Fleetwood 22, Cockton found Newman and Bolton set up the drive towards the line. A strong maul from the home side splintered the defence and Fleetwood resorted to coming around the side and illegally bringing it down. With the advantage in their favour, Bate threw the ball out wide and Singleton brought Dave Bruen and Mills in to the action in the middle of the park. Eventually play was brought back for the penalty offence, and somehow the official failed to show a yellow card for cynical play.

Bolton tapped the penalty and left it to the forwards to try and muscle over the line. Manny Tailor and Chris Mee continually made ground, but were held out by a brave effort from the visitors. Again Fleetwood conceded the penalty and yet again the referee wasn't seen to brandish a card... Despite all the ongoings off the ball and around the rucks it was incredible Fleetwood finished the game with 15 on the pitch. Bolton did not bite back and continued to hammer away at the try line. Every forward was involved but their game became too predictable and when the ball eventually found its way out Fleetwood managed to clear it and enjoy the half time whistle.

Nick Holmes, for the first time in his career at Bolton gave the side a fair telling off for their first half performance and asked them to buck their ideas up or face the hook with Gaz Pritchard and Simon Frost ready to come on.

Bolton started the half with Holmes' words ringing in their ears and they attacked in much the same way as they did against Garstang the week before. The ball was shipped one way and then the other with forwards and backs seeing just as much of the ball as each other. The rucking was intense and clinical and Bate was served the ball on a plate each time. Mills broke the line out wide and looked for Murtagh in support but chose to take it down with the winger clearing out the attempted defenders. The forwards then took their chances with a number of plays down the right flank that took them within 5m of the line. The ball was then shipped to number 8 Rick Newman coming in on a penetrating line that the Fleetwood defenders had no answer to. With the try under the sticks Doherty had no problem converting the opportunity to take the score to 18-3.

Holmes made the changes to freshen the legs in the pack with Tailor and Youngman making way for Frost and Pritchard.

Frost immediately found himself in the action as a shortened line out was thrown wide from Bate to Singleton. Singleton drew his man and offloaded to Frost who straightened to find himself in acres of space 40m out. He put pedal to the metal and switched on the after burners but was soon caught up around 5m further down field. Now most self respecting props would have taken the ball to ground and allowed it to be recycled. Not Simon. In a moment of sheer rugby perfection, Simon spotted the supporting runner on the touchline and with a pass that the master Jonny Wilkinson would have been proud of, Frosty floated the ball 20m into the outstretched arms of the bolton attacker. The attack was eventually cleared but Frost continued to pose for the flashing cameras all trying to catch a glimmer of his brilliance.

With 2 tries under their belts and 35 minutes of the half remaining, Bolton were now starting to target the 4 try bonus point and mounted further attacks in search of it. A deep kick into the arms of Murtagh on the right wing presented the opportunity to counter and Murtagh returned the kick down the touchline and went off in chase. The covering defender was privy to his attack and sent another kick back down field with Mills taking the high ball. Mills found Doherty in the middle of the pitch who set off on a jinking run and before the covering winger could effect the tackle Doherty dropped the ball on to his boot to keep it in play. Bolton managed to gather the ball and were in a prime position to score again. Newman once again found himself the beneficiary of the forwards work with Gaz Pritchard prominent in the build up. Doherty slotted the extras to take the score to 25-3.

With only a few minutes remaining on the clock, Bolton knew they must target the 4th try but Fleetwood utilised the wind to their benefit and cleared their lines putting Bolton under pressure. A bounce fell in to the hands of the Fleetwood 13 on the halfway line and only last ditch cover from Murtagh prevented the score under the posts. Fleetwood set up a strong play and their centre made the most of a tired Bolton defence to take the score to 25-8 with the conversion missed.

The last few minutes passed without either side making an attempt on the opposition line and Bolton were grateful to hear the final whistle and run back to the warmth of the changing rooms.

Another well fought win for the Cherry & White's with the only disappointment being the missed bonus point. Still, we remain 7 points clear at the top of the table with just 7 games left in the league. It could get very interesting....