The Cherry & White’s showed their intentions from the off with a strong chase by the pack as fly half Mike Mills got the game underway. Upper Eden sound found themselves under immense pressure from the Bolton defensive effort who were fighting tooth and nail to get their hands on the ball. Eventually, Bolton got their way thanks to some outstanding work at the breakdown from Man of the Match Ash Cooper. The forwards, led by the strong running of their back row Alex Youngman, Rick Newman and Ash Cooper got Bolton onto the front foot and it wasn’t long before Mills was calling for the ball from debutant Spencer Pettitt at scrum half. Mills ran his backline well and utilised Dave Bruens crash skills to maintain the momentum before releasing Will Bate, back in the 13 shirt, to take Bolton further forward. An offside presented Bolton with a penalty, but knowing they had the pack to cause UE problems, Mills kicked for the corner.

The Bolton line out, which functioned well all day, set up the driving maul and despite the attempts from the visitors managed to crash over the whitewash with Cockton picking up his first of the day thanks to the efforts of his forward pack. With Doherty absent, Mills took up the kicking duties and slotted a tough first kick from out wide to take the score to 7-0.

Bolton had the first of their four required tries and soon set about making up ground to earn the second. Newman claimed the ball from the restart and made his presence known as he broke several tackles before eventually being brought down. Once more the Bolton pack made hard yards up the field with Chris Mee continually breaking the defensive line. Yet again, Mills wanted the ball to make the most of the underfoot conditions and a slick move in centre field saw Bate break the line and find his winger Rhys Pritchard in support. The ball found its way back across the field into the arms of the onrushing forwards who were awarded a penalty for another UE infringement. Again Mills kicked for the corner and once more Bolton drove themselves over the line with Cockton picking up his second of the day. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but Bolton were in the ascendancy and confident that more scores would come.

With the forwards proving dominant and the backs breaking the line with regularity, the side line looked to be in for a day of running rugby and so the next few phases proved. Bolton continued to test the UE defence and when Danny Joseph joined the line from full back and brought in Mike Richardson they found themselves once more beyond the gainline. The ball was shipped from one side of the field to the other with Bate and Pritchard linking well again to make more ground. Just 5 metres out UE had no option other than to disrupt the ball illegally and the referee sent the offending player for 10 minutes in the bin. One man up in the forwards Bolton opted for the scrum and soon found themselves driving towards the line for a push over try with Rick Newman the beneficiary at number 8. His 4th try in just 6 games. Once again Mills was unsuccessful with the conversion attempt but Bolton were looking comfortable at 17-0.

With the 4th try in sight, Bolton spent the final 10 minutes of the half playing like they didn’t want it and made some critical errors that cost them both field position and possession giving Upper Eden their first real period of attack. The visitors had obviously done their homework on the Bolton scrum with the ball in and out of the set piece before Bolton could exert their dominance. Credit must go to the UE number 8 who did well to dig the ball out from not far off the front row and still make yards around the scrum, ably supported by his back row partners. Bolton defended well and UE never looked like breaking the line but a ‘discussion’ with the referee from Bate gave UE a penalty opportunity in front of the sticks which drifted wide to bring a close to the half.

Despite the 10 minute lull, Nick Holmes made no changes, trusting his starting XV to claim the 5th point on offer. A word from Cockton about not allowing a repeat of the Littleborough performance sent the side back into the game sensing blood and desperate to earn a try bonus point.

It seemed Will Bate had been listening as just 5 minutes into the second half a strong scrum from the Bolton pack provided a platform from which Mike Mills could unleash his backline. Bate hit a sublime line off the number 10 and shrugged off the would be tackle from the full back to go over the line with Mills duly converting to take the score to 24-0 and secure the 5th point.

The team knew a big score could be on the cards and set up to receive the ball with nothing in their minds other than making the most of the day and putting some more points on the board. The forwards had enjoyed their fun in the first period with the opening three tries and Bate’s try opened the door for the backline to take the game to Upper Eden.

Next on the score sheet was Mike Richardson, back in the team after 4 weeks on the side line. In a run similar to the ones he put in against Garstang Richardson went steaming down the right hand touchline brushing away the attempted tackles and crashing over for another un-converted try. The score now stood at 29-0 and Bolton were beginning to eye up the 50 mark…

They did not disappoint with their efforts and thanks to the tireless work in the pack, now strengthened with the fresh legs of Ben Stubbs and Tony McLaughlin in place of Sam Hilton and James Brodie respectively, Bolton were once again on the front foot and hammering away at the UE defenders. Slick hands from right to left saw the ball make it’s way to Will Bate who threw an outrageous dummy to go between the winger and 13 and dot down his second of the game. Mills converted and with 36-0 the score Bolton were really building up steam.

Coach Holmes freshened things up once more with Murtagh coming on at full back for the last 20 minutes. Danny Joseph can be happy with his first start back in the side after a lengthy injury lay off. Murtagh immediately made his presence felt returning the ball with his usual straight up style. A penalty for holding on gave UE a chance to kick for touch, but as usual Bolton’s defence held steady and they managed to clear the danger.

Rhys Pritchard, worried about Bate running away with the top try score prize, was the next to touch down. A great break from number 8 Newman opened up the field outside him he found Pettitt who drew his man and slipped the ball to Pritchard on the left wing. The winger opened up the taps and stepped his way around his opposite number and the full back to go over the line. At 43-0, UE could have been forgiven for giving up the ghost, but all credit must go to the visitors who played until the final whistle and in the right spirit throughout the game.

Unfortunately for Upper Eden there was to be one final score with Skipper Cockton rounding off a hat-trick, thanks, once again, to the incredible work of his forward pack at the maul. McLaughlin made himself known in the set piece with his heroic driving work and his performance in the 30 minutes he was given was a sure call out to the selectors to give him a starting jersey next weekend. Mills was unable to put the score to 50 with the conversion attempt but 5 minutes left on the clock meant the opportunity was still there.

Brodie returned to the pitch with Critchlow taking a well-earned rest after an outstanding performance all around the park. As always Brodie was causing mayhem at line out time and forcing the UE hooker to over throw. At the tail of the line, Cooper collected the ball and from 15m inside his own half he set off down the field brushing defenders aside one by one. The pace from the blindside flanker shocked everyone into chasing after him as the clock ticked down before he was eventually cut down just 10 metres from the tryline. Not before he had managed to offload to Rick Newman who had appeared in support, the UE full back cut across and stopped Newmans’ charge to the line, but the ball was offloaded beautifully to Alex Youngman who had only to fall over the whitewash for the final score. Instead he dropped it, much to the dismay of his fellow team mates and the sizeable touchline support… His one error, in an otherwise almost perfect performance.

Whilst Bolton missed out on achieving 50 points, they will be more than happy that once more they managed to maintain their home record, keep their opponents to nil and finally produce the fast paced flowing rugby that they are capable of. Bolton must take this performance into next weeks very tough fixture away at St Benedicts.