However, Bolton put together a first half performance that showed why they sit 10 points clear at the top of North Lancs/Cumbria with their sights set clearly on promotion.

A first half hat-trick from Ash Cooper was enough to secure the Cherry & White’s 10th win on the bounce, and take the crown for longest winning streak of any team so far this season in the league. Bolton’s impressive record now stands at played 20, won 17, drawn 1, lost 2 and silences the doubters from the start of the season that expected Bolton to struggle in this higher league.

Littleborough opted to play up the slope and in to the wind first half, perhaps in the hope that they could use it to their advantage in the second half when Bolton may have been tiring, but the 1st half domination shown by Bolton was enough to put the game to bed, albeit with the dissapointment of missing out on a bonus point yet again!

James Singleton got the game underway with a deep kick into the littleborough half. Boro showed their intentions early, utilising their big pack to run the ball hard at the red and white defensive wall. The back row of Ash Cooper, Alex Youngman and Nick Sandbrook, backed up by their second row colleagues Tony McLaughlin and Louis Critchlow dealt with the attacks well and forced Boro to throw the ball wide early. Boro did this well and after gaining ground through the midfield and once again down the right wing, they switched the play finding space on the opposite side of the pitch. Tremendous cover tackle from scum half Will Bate soon put a stop to that play and Bolton finally found themselves in possesion with a lineout inside their own half.

Littleborough had caused Bolton problems at home in both the scrum and maul, but today the tables turned. Bolton’s perfectly functioning lineout set up the drive and only illegal play from Boro could stop the march. Bolton opted to kick for touch again and Bate stepped up to put the ball deep. This time Bolton went off the top of the line and Singleton found his centres Dave Bruen and Mike Mills who combined well to put Bolton on the front foot. Once again, Boro disrupted the ball illegally and Mark Doherty stepped up to convert the opportunity and give Bolton a 3 point lead.

From the restart, Boro put Bolton under pressure with a strong chase but knocked on giving Bolton the put in at the first scrum on their own 10m line. So began the dominance that nobody was really expecting. A clean strike from hooker Chris Cockton and deft control at the base from Cooper at 8 gave Bolton a platform to push on. The pressure showed and bit by bit the Boro scrum splintered leaving Bolton clear to continue driving up field. With a penalty advantage in their favour, Bolton kept driving and some 20/25m later when Littleborough resorted to dragging the Bolton scrum down, Bate had released his backs. At this point your intrepid reporter was down with a niggle in his neck, but once he was back on his feet he looked up to find that Boro had the put in to a lineout some 7m out from the Boro try line.

Youngman and Sandbrook caused havoc in the air all day on the Boro put in and this one was no different with Alex claiming the ball and setting up the driving maul. Bate shipped the ball wide to try and take advantage of a deep Boro defensive line, but the ball was thrown away with a knock on some way down the backline. The Bolton forwards stepped up once more though and turned the ball over with Cooper picking from the base to drive towards the line. Quick recycling gave Singleton good ball to work with and somehow, Cooper found himself on the end of a pass with two defenders to beat. He was chopped down once but not held and so picked himself up to drive over the line for the opening try of the game. Doherty managed to convert and the scoreline stood at 0-10.

Now Littleborough took their opportunity to strike and some foul play at the breakdown gave the home team a chance to add some points to the board with their kicker striking true from in front of the sticks. 3-10.

This only incentivised Bolton further and after several phases of play found themselves close to the Littleborough line with the put in to the scrum. The match official had already had some words with Boltons tight head Chris Mee and the Littleborough captain at loosehead about their conduct at the set piece so Bolton knew that more pressure at this set piece must surely sway the ref towards a yellow card. From 10m out, Bolton once again took the upper hand and some great footwork by Cooper at the base gave him the opportunity to drop on the ball for his second score, Doherty unable to add the extra’s taking the score to 3-15.

Several minutes before half time, Bolton kicked a penalty to the corner with the intention of the driving maul, but foul play in the air from one of the home sides back row players saw him sent to the bin for a 10 minute rest. Captain Cockton opted for the scrum 7m out and Manesh Tailor, who had scrummaged superbly all game, got the upper hand on his opposite number once more. The power came on from McLaughlin and Critchlow in the second row and once again Cooper was the beneficiary at the back of the scrum as the pack went over the whitewash. Doherty once again failed with the conversion but Bolton were 3-20 up and in complete control of the game.

With half time came one change. Gareth Evans coming on at hooker with Chris Cockton taking a break on the sideline to watch his side fight for the bonus point.

However, Littleborough staged a fight back in the second half and utilised the wind to their advantage. Whereas in the 1st half Bolton had chosen to run the ball and pressure Littleborough in defence, Boro put boot to ball with regularity giving the back three of Doherty, Andrew Murtagh and Rhys Pritchard some serious yards to run. On the whole they dealt with the ball well and linked up nicely to create some great counter attacking opportunities.

Bolton did well to work themselves up field on several occasions but stout defence from the home side and minor errors from the visitors cost them the best part of 80 metres every time. Bolton’s best try scoring opportunity came down the right flank with Mills holding his opposite man and putting Murtagh into space. Murtagh charged down the channel and when the covering full back came across looked for the inside ball to the supporting Mills. Out of nowhere came the hand of the Boro 13 to snaffle the ball from the outstretched hands of Mills and deny Bolton the 4th try.

Errors were really creeping in to Bolton’s game and Littleborough were making the most of them. A great backs move ended up with the home side’s 13 finding a usually non-existent chink in the Bolton armour to go over under the posts. The conversion was successful and Littleborough were back in the game 10-20.

Bolton’s problems were compounded further when Youngman was sent to the bin for illegal play at the ruck and Bolton were forced to defend hard to make up for the missing man. Nick Holmes sensed the time was right for fresh legs and brought Danny Joseph on for his first game back in the 1st team since his injury early on in the season. He replaced James Singleton at 10 and Simon Frost entered the fray to take over from Manesh Tailor who capped off yet another assured performance in 1st XV colours.

The fresh legs proved their worth and once again, Bolton found themselves within striking distance of the 4th try but frustration and, once again, silly errors saw Murtagh drop the ball with the whitewash begging. Boro opted for the boot once more and chased well with the Bolton pack having to work hard to get back down field to defend once more. Chris Mee epitimised Bolton’s determination with a thundering hit on the Boro captain but the attempted steal gave Boro a penalty, which, with the clock ticking down, they opted for the posts. The kicker held his nerve to take the score to 13-20 and put Boro in losing bonus point territory.

Al Youngman returned to the field of play and despite his and the rest of the sides attempts they could not find the final try to give Bolton 5 points. The final attack of the game came from Bolton and once more Boro put the ball down field with winger Pritchard gathering it and running in to touch to bring to a close a dissapointing second half but a very valuable win.

Bolton now lie 10 points clear at the head of the table but with both Eccles and Aspatria holding games in hand they can’t afford a slip between now and the end of the season. Just 6 league fixtures remain for the Cherry & Whites and not one of them will be an easy game, starting with an away day to St Benedicts this Saturday.