New boys show their cards in opening match

First game of the season was a rude awakening for Bolton‘s 4th team. New comers to the league, Orrell St James, were their opposition and no-one seemed to know much about them. It transpired that they were half ex-Wigan Vets who had fallen out with their club and half Rugby League converts. They quickly showed that they would use the Vets know-how to get the ball in the right position and the RL runners to finish it off. Two tries down and finally Bolton responded with good midfield play taking them into the opposition 22m. A Tom Byrne shimmy, or was it a stumble, took him near and then over the line to score. OSJ came back with a couple more tries and then, once again, Bolton pressed forward, and as the defence conceded 4 penalties in their 5m area, Andy Jolly barged his way over to score and then converted his own try. Alas that was to be the last time Bolton troubled the refs scorecard. A further 7 tries may have been conceded, but the Bolton defence did, at times, look solid. So, there’s work to be done, but those who played never gave up.