Bolton hold firm to win Northwich 7 - Bolton 8

A damp afternoon saw Bolton U18s travel to Northwich for their penultimate game of the league. Previous games this season had seen a win for each team, with only 2 points between them, so it was always going to be close. The kick off saw Northwich kick well, their lads running quickly to take the ball, however they soon kicked again and Jonathon Wallis made a great catch, and Northwich gave away a penalty. David Price kicked the ball to the 10 yard line. Hooker Matthew Chowdhury threw a high ball which was caught by Captain Paddy Hargreaves, before being passed to Nathan Collins, then David Price, then Adam Hackin. When Northwich gave away another penalty, David Price kicked for goal and the ball flew between the posts – 0-3 to Bolton.
The next 30 minutes saw both teams attack and defend strongly. A few too many penalties were given away by both sides, but some tremendous tackling by Jamie Currie, Tom Evans, and Tom Heatherington, kept Northwich at bay. Northwich kicked the ball high on a number of occasion, and Joe Carter and Sam Smith showed a calm maturity under these high balls. Morgan Smith and Ben Nicholson with Matthew Chowdhury and Harvey Banks became even stronger in the scrum where Bolton proved too strong for Northwich. A high tackle on a Bolton player gave them another penalty. From the line-out the ball was moved quickly from Jamie Currie to Sam Smith to Harvey Banks to Zack Doogan. He then passed to Matthew Chowdhury who kicked the ball and he and Jonny Wallis put pressure on Northwich as they chased it down. However the ball was soon back in Northwich’s hands, and some great attacking by them saw them near the 10 yard line. Jonny Wallis, Zack Doogan and Matthew Chowdhury put in some superb tackles to keep them at bay, and the first half ended, with the score line still 0-3 to Bolton.

The second half started in much the same way, with the ball travelling up and down the field. Morgan Smith came off and Tom Heatherington was injured allowing Sam Humphreys and Lewis Rostron to join the match. Eventually another scrum saws Bolton’s strength show, and some superb play saw David Price pass to Nathan Collins who made a great run before flicking the ball out to Matthew Chowdhury who sprinted across the line to score a try. 0-8 to Bolton. Northwich came back hard, and some careless play by Bolton saw them advance towards the line. Bolton defended hard, Lewis Rostron and Zack Doogan putting in strong tackles, but eventually Northwich crossed the line, and converted leaving the score at 7-8.

The last 5 minutes were very tense for everyone – especially the spectators! Adam Hackin, Sam Humphreys, Paddy Hargreaves and Jamie Currie continued to tackle hard, and there was a loud cheer when the whistle blew, leaving Bolton the winners!