A busy afternoon for the scoreboard operator

Bolton 4th 79 Burnley 3rd 10

As I walked towards the pitch, I noticed that Burnley were already standing behind their posts. Apparently Bolton had opened their account without waiting for their manager/tactician/chauffer/water-boy/scorekeeper to arrive. So, I’m not going to give captain Mark Higgins any credit for the try. Doh ! Returning student Spencer ‘Tiny’ Pettit added the conversion. Straight from the restart, Ben ‘Tef’ Hill tore straight thru the shocked Burnley backs to add another 5, converted. Burnley realised they had better shake off the jet lag from their trip down to Bolton and began to get involved. But Bolton were determined to keep the pressure on. After a spell of good continuity, prop Gareth ‘first time in 13 years’ Garvin dived over the line to score. At the 20 minute mark, the eager substitutes were introduced. Following a turnover ball by Duncan ‘does my head look big in this’ Craigen, the ball was moved out along the backs where Stuart ‘Brylcreem boy’ Macdonald slid thru a gap to score. Bolton now took their foot off the gas and a period of poor defence and poor tackling ensued. Burnley opened their account with an unconverted try. Back to the game plan, and Bolton upped the pace again, with good forward interplay leading to quality ball out to the backs with Pettit racing away to score and then convert. Half time 31 – 5.
Two new players were introduced at half time, Mark’ Tucker’ Liptrot going in to prop and new student James ‘mean machine’ Geen in the centre. Within seconds the burly Burnley centre introduced himself to Mr Geen, by unceremoniously dumping him on his posterior. Welcome to 4th team rugby ! However the ball had already been spun wide and Hill added his second try of the afternoon. Then followed an interception by Pettit and once again he ran away from the defence to score under the sticks and add the conversion. A brief spell of indiscipline forced Bolton back to their posts and once again Burnley took advantage and added 5 points to their tally. Stirred into action, Bolton roared back up the pitch, with Jamie ‘beep da beep beep (roadrunner)’ Cairns running across the face of the defence to score on the opposite wing. Within minutes Cairns added a second as he powered thru two tackles to score. As Burnley tired, Bolton continued to pile on the points. A ‘speculative’ kick from Pettit was recovered and he completed his hat-trick, even adding a conversion. More good support play and James ‘terminator’ Foey crossed the whitewash, conversion followed. A good drive from the forwards and Mark ‘Jabba’ Higgins peeled off the side to fall unaided over the line. And finally, a good break from Pettit, before he offloaded to ‘magic Mike Smith who ran thru the defence to score under the posts, conversion added. Final score 79 – 10.
A lot of backs tries, but a huge amount of work by the forwards, with good support play from all.