1st League Game 2011/12

Bolton U19’s 2011/12 campaign began with a Senior Colts League game against Ashton-u-Lyne at Avenue Street. The first time the players had all turned up at the same time since April to either a game or training session meant we needed to spend a while ‘warming up’ before kick off! The time spent before the game paid dividends though as they gelled together to produce a cracking game; only let down by having just 14 players turn up on a day of uncharacteristically warm weather that took it’s toll in the end.

Both teams were keen to play rugby and right from the off they showed they intended to entertain the spectators. In the first quarter Bolton seemed to have the upper hand until Ashton exploited the overlap with the extra player against the run of play and took a try in the corner from 50yds out. But Bolton rallied and continued to keep the pressure on through the rest of the half to keep it at 0-5 at half time.

The second half saw the U19s start to give some ground but defensively they held their line for most of the half, eventually succumbing to a needless penalty that Ashton exploited to push the gap to 0-8. The warm day then started to take its toll and Ashton utilised the fresh legs they had on the bench to rotate players and put pressure on the Bolton side. This eventually paid off with a bomb coming out of the sun between two tired players that was picked up by Ashton to score and convert to take the match beyond reach in the dying minutes. Everyone entertained but unfortunately a loss for the home team. Final score 0-15.

Big positives for the Forwards and the Backs; both having players in unfamiliar positions. The Scrum took a few against the head and nicked some lineout ball and the interplay between Backs, who had only played together for the first time in the warm up, was encouraging going into next Sunday’s home game against old friends Bury.