...and the Cumbrian side proved that despite them having a hard start to the season they are still renowned as one of the tougher sides in the Cumbria area.

Bolton travelled well and were buoyed by the return of talismanic player Will Bate from injury along with Mike Mills, both of whom had missed the previous weeks victory over Wilmslow at Avenue Street, they were confident that they could come away with some valuable points from the encounter.

Considering the conditions a good crowd had turned up to support the fixture with some great and very vocal travelling support from the Bolton faithful.

Bolton started brightly with the scrum taking up where they had left off the previous week against Wilmslow. Dominant in the tight Bolton managed to turn over set piece ball time and time again with Cockton, Mee and Hilton all evidently having the beating of their opposite numbers in the pack.

However Bolton failed to capitalise on their strong start and the Wigton back line marshalled by their efficient fly half began to believe the Bolton were there for the taking. The first exchange of penalties led to the game becoming mired in a 3 - 3 draw where both sides tried to find the key to break the deadlock but ultimately defences ruled the roost. The highlight of the first half saw Bolton opting for the scrum near to the Wigton line after turning down the chance of the 3 points from the penalty, two scrums were reset but the third was turned and then Wigton managed to scramble the ball clear eventually making over 80 yards in the process. Only some fine covering back from Murtagh and Jack Robinson saw Bolton survived unscathed. Unfortunately Murtagh did not escape unscathed and a split head ended his involvement in the day, bring veteran Danny Joseph onto the wing from the subs bench.

Half time daw Coach Holmes ask for a little more control from his side as the belief was that they were getting drawn into an arm wrestle of frenetic rugby which was not part of the game plan. Coach Holmes was proven immediately right when a strong Wigton attack was snaffled out by Mike Mills who stripped his opposite number of the ball but his clearance kick was charged down under the posts with the Wigton player gleefully dropping on the loose ball to score the try. Wigton converted leading the leading at 10 - 3 and very much in the ascendency.

The home crowd were brought to their feet and could sense the possibility of a vital victory in their quest for pulling away from the relegation zone. But this Bolton team is made of stronger stuff than previous generations of Avenue Street men and went back to what they know best. Tough tackling and hard running up front. With the Bolton pack now destroying their opposite numbers set piece at will number 8 James Brodie found some time to start to run the ball and off load to his runners in the form of Ash Cooper and Louis Critchlow. Constant two out crash ball running forced mistakes in the Wigton defence with their fly half suffering for a collective penalty when he was sent to the sin bin. From the ensuing penalty Skipper Cockton chose the scrum option and after the first scrum was collapsed by the home side the referee lost his patience and gave a penalty try to Bolton which was easily converted in front of the sticks by Doherty.

From the restart Bolton were buoyed by a great catch return by prop Chris Mee and started to work their way slowly up the pitch through the usage of Mills, Pritchard and Bate. Good recycling work at the breakdown ensure Bolton were moving with some freedom and a knock on at a breakdown by Wigton gave Bolton another scrum in the red zone. The Bolton pack fired up once more and started the drive for the line, only for the Wigton front three to again collapse the scrum. The referee allowed an advantage and the ball was whipped out to fly half Doherty who dropped his shoulder and shimmied his way to crash over the line to score the match winning try, which he then converted.

Bolton only had to see out the remaining four minutes and after a great take from number 8 James Brodie the forwards used a set of combined drives to draw the sting out of the tail of the game before scrum half Andrew Crimmins booted the ball into touch to close out the game.

Many thanks go to the Wigton club as a whole for hosting us with aplomb, a great club to visit oop North and we look forward to returning the hospitality on their return to Avenue Street.

MOM: Chris Mee

Moment of the Match: The combined efforts of the Bolton pack to win the penalty try ( changed the complexion of the game)

Moan of the Match : My God it was COLD!!!! Brrrrrrr And WET!!!