What a fantastic start to the season with an emphatic win over Didsbury Toc H. Bolton played well from the start, dominating the scrums and tackling well. The first 20 minutes were fairly even, although with the majority of play in Didsbury's half. Bolton had got near to their line on a few occasions, but then Didsbury went to kick the ball out of play, and Jonny Wallis did a fantastic charge down to score the first try of the match. 5-0 to Bolton. The game continued with quite a few line-outs after some careless handling on both sides. Then some tremendous drives by Bolton saw Will Hinchcliffe get the ball and sprint across the line. A great conversion by David Price and at half time the score was 12-0. The second half continued to be dominated by Bolton, and despite some fantastic runs and drives they did not score again, but some tremendous defence prevented Didsbury from getting on the score sheet. At one stage Didsbury were close to the line for more than 5 minutes, but the strength of the Bolton defence was unforgiving, and they were determined not to let Didsbury score, even in the last few minutes. The final result of 12-0 was well deserved. The whole team did well, every lad had played an important role. There was some fierce tackling and Seth Fairclough put in some crucial tackles. A new lad to the team, George Lilleywhite, put in some great runs and sidestepped the Didsbury defence on more than one occasion. Overall a great start to the season and a performance for the whole team to be proud of. This was then followed by another great performance on 20th September against Eccles. From the opening kick Bolton chased every ball and the first tackle by Paddy Uzoka was a sign of the strength which would be shown throughout the match. For the first 15 minutes much of the play was in Eccles' half, and some continuous offsides from Eccles gave Bolton a penalty. David Price stepped up and kicked it through the posts 3-0 to Bolton. 10 minutes later a good burst of speed from Eccles saw them cross the line, but the try wasn't converted leaving the scoreline at 5-3. Bolton then dominated play and some excellent runs saw George Lilleywhite nearly score a try but he was just pushed out of play. Bolton stayed near the line, and eventually there was a great 4 metre drive across the line for a fantastic try by new recruit Harvey Banks. David Price converted with a great kick and the score was 10-5 to Bolton. As the last minutes of the first half were ticking by, Eccles put in another strong run resulting in a try. They didn't convert it leaving the score 10-10 at half time.
The second half saw Bolton continue to show their strength, and there were some great runs with the ball by Adam Hackin. Then some great play by the forwards enabled Ciaran Bach to race over the line for a try which was swiftly converted by David Price. 17-10 to Bolton. Bolton continued to dominate play, and a line-out win saw the ball passed along the line until David Price did a fantastic dummy pass before running over the line, leaving the score at 22-10. Eccles fought back hard, and some strong play from their wingers saw Eccles over the line, for a converted try, and a scoreline of 22-17 to Bolton. A very fast Eccles winger then started a tremendous break which was halted by a try-saving (and indeed possibly match-saving) tackle by Sam Smith. With Bolton on the move towards their line again, the referee blew the final whistle, and Bolton had a deserved win against a strong Eccles team. There were many notable performances, Ross Denvir came on in the second half and made a real impact straight away. Try scoring Harvey Banks is a great addition to the team, and Seth Fairclough and Will Hinchcliffe were tireless in the forwards. Patrick Hargreaves as captain must be delighted with this start to the season.
Always keen to meet new players, if you know anyone who wants to join this successful team please get in touch, or come to the Open Day at Bolton RUFC on Sunday 13th.