Raging Bull Plate Final - Take 1 - And Action !

Bolton 4th 17 Leigh 4th 24

In a preview of the Raging Bull Plate Final to be played on May 4th Bolton entertained top of the table Leigh. Early nerves were soon put to rest as both teams showed why they have the two best points differences in the league. Early Leigh pressure was weathered by the Bolton defence, with Jack Cormican and Charlie Walton both making important tackles. Having borne the brunt, Bolton then moved steadily down the pitch, making their own plays in the Leigh 22. With the defence conceding a penalty, captain Keith Howie elected to kick at goal and take the 3 points. 3-0. From the restart, more open running from Leigh, but good tackling from Bolton held them at bay. And then, an innocuous run across the face of the Bolton backs allowed the Leigh 10 to pick his gap and cut through the line to head for the posts to score. 3-5. Stunned, Bolton reacted and began to play as they can, with forwards winning good ball, and the backs moving it quickly, but the Leigh defence stood firm. Until just before half time, when Tom Comery, playing his first game of the season shimmied his way thru the Leigh line and went over the whitewash to score. Howie added the conversion. 10-5.
Bolton made a good start in the second half, but strong running by Leigh found a gap and the winger went over and round to the posts to score. 10-12. Fifteen minutes later, and it was Leigh again who were pressing the Bolton line. Their drive was held up just short of the try line, but their captain picked up at the back to dive over from 50cm. 10-17. Five minutes later, when the other Leigh winger ran in almost unopposed, it looked like Bolton had capitulated. 10-24. At this point the score didn’t reflect the effort that Bolton had put in to the game. So it was with some relief that within minutes Bolton were back in the Leigh 22m. Following a catch and drive at a lineout, the Bolton pack headed for the line, with number 8 Mark Higgins driving over the line to score. 17-24. At the final whistle, a disappointing result for Bolton. Some of their normal energy and fluency was missing on a day when they needed it all.
So, Leigh are still at the top of the table. They will be aiming to win their next 3 games to give them an unbeaten league program. In 5 weeks time, Bolton will be aiming to ensure that Leigh don’t have an unbeaten season !
Raging Bull Plate Final - Take 2 - And . . . . Action !