4 try haul for Van the man

With the holiday season apparently still in full swing and a few late cry-off’s, Bolton just managed to get a team together. However with only 3 backs named, it looked like this may be a day for 10-man rugby. However it transpired that the same afflictions had hit Kirkby, as they turned up with only 10 men and no front row. A couple of players were loaned to Kirkby, so as to make a game of it, but Tim Jones pulled a hamstring in the warm up so took no part in the actual match !
Bolton started well and within minutes a bullocking run from Ken Sackfield, took him over the try line, with the conversion added by Andy Jolly, 7 – 0. A poor reception of the Kirkby restart, by one of the forwards playing in the backs, put Bolton under pressure which they never really cleared. They conceded 2 penalties and then the score, 7 – 5. Undaunted, Bolton pushed back upfield, and as Kirkby transgressed, birthday boy Jacob Walker was on the receiving end of a quick tap penalty and crossed in the corner, 12 – 5. Next Jeremy van der Westhuizen, another forward playing in the backs, snaffled up a loose ball and ran away to score his first try for the club, 17 – 5. Kirkby came back and once again camped in the Bolton 22, but once again Westhuizen picked up a loose ball, and ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts, 24 – 5. John Todd, playing his first game for the club, made a nice break, then drew the fullback to release Connor Orrell to finish off the try, 31 – 5. Bolton, now in the ascendency were getting all the breaks, with only the number of penalties they conceded holding them back.
Good work in the ‘backs’ led to the ball in the hands of Westhuizen, who one again raced away to score, 38 – 5. Then Todd got his reward as he ran the full length of the pitch to get his first try, 45 – 5. A strong run from Sackfield took him straight thru the defence in midfield and as he headed for the distant try line, which was by now moving away from him, he was tackled with great delight by one of the loaned players to prevent the try. Good recycling and continuity saw Jacob Buckley skip over the line to score his first club try, 52 – 5. Next it was Andy Jolley who burst thru the defence, but the try line was off again, running faster than Joly could get there. Once again, good continuity saw that man Westhuizen on the end of a pass to record his 4th try of the game, 59 - 5. Finally Westhuizen gave a looping pass to Mark Fitzsimmons who beat the defence to score his first try for the club, 66 – 5. And with that, the referee had seen enough and blew the whistle early.
A decent performance against a game Kirkby side, but too many penalties conceded.