U14’s shine in the April sun.

After a few strange looks at today’s team sheet with Props at full back and Stand Offs at 2nd Row and before it dawned on the lads it was April’s Fools Day the lads got their rugby heads on and their minds into rugby gear and produced their best performance of the season so far.

For once the sun shone at Bolton RUFC and the lads from both Bolton and Preston put on a real treat of rugby for the spectators who basked in both sunshine and reflected rugby glory. From the first whistle the home side put their illustrious visitors under pressure and quick hands by Josh Holmes, Michael Latham and Ben Thomasson put full back Adam Kazmi into space to burn 50m and almost to the visitor’s line. From a 5m scrum, captain and Number 8 Tom Hill picked up and crashed through two tackles to open the scoring. Preston struck back but excellent all round play by all the Bolton side gave Josh Holmes a small gap which he exploited to the fullest and with Adam Kazmi tacking on the conversion Bolton turned round 12-5 up. The first period was dominated by the lads in red with Firth Lord, Chris Kehoe and Joel Thompson standing up in the forwards while all the backs looked dangerous each time they had possession.
It would appear that the visiting coach must have given a resounding team talk as the visitors were on fire at the start of the second period and soon were 3 points up. Centre Ben Thomasson restored the lead after a superb run and Adam Kazmi again kicked the goal. Some brilliant rugby was played over the next few minutes by both teams with Wiils Brindle, Wills McCambridge, Chris Kehoe, Joel Thompson, Ben Thomasson and Josh Holmes to the fore ably supported by David Warren who even popped up at Hooker at one point. Out wide James Hind and Ryan McClusky really looked the part on the wings. In the forwards the front row came back at the visitor’s pack and the 4 J’s who shared the duties, Jordan Ashton, Joseph Partington, Jacob Muyaya and Joel Thompson were all immense as was Gregor Kirk who despite not having name beginning with J didn’t look out of place at all!
Despite Josh completing his brace Bolton were 6 points down as they kicked off with 30 seconds on the ref’s watch. With the kick not going 10m it seemed that the last chance had gone, however, the pack took the scrum against the head, Joey Gore fed Josh Holmes who zipped the ball along the line to Ryan McClusky who burst through the defence to score. Sadly the mother of all finishes wasn’t to be as the conversion was missed but boy did the Under 14’s play well and what a game it had been.

The coaches were so proud of all the lads and of their determination and tenacity matched up with no little skill and rugby ability. It was great to see both Ben Thomasson and Joel Thompson back in the red of Bolton RUFC. Thanks very much also to Gregor Kirk for rushing back to Bolton to offer his services.

The Player’s Player of the Match went to Adam Kazmi for a superb display of all round rugby while Ben Thomasson’s excellent play was recognised by the Patent’s for their award. The coaches could have picked any of the remaining 16 players and the names Josh Holmes, Chris Kehoe, Ryan McClusky to name but a few must have been on the tip of the coaches’ tongue’s. However, Wills Brindle got the nod and perhaps his all round contribution both in loose and tight, with ball in hand and on the boot and also when in defence perhaps just tipped the balance in his favour.

We hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter and we look forward to watching the lads run off a few too many Easter eggs at training. Thanks again to all those who represented Bolton Under 14’s today, all the coaches were proud of each and every one of you and you should take a lot from today’s performance. Let’s try and build on it and take the end of the season by storm.

Finally, a huge thank you to all parents, family, friends, etc who bravely watched the game in glorious sunshine and cheered on the lad’s superb efforts. We are lucky to be blessed by such a brilliant set of supporters – thanks!