Match Preview

This weekend Bolton travel to Barrow to take on Hawcoat Park in a bid to break their poor away form.

Over the years Hawcoat Park has rarely been a happy hunting ground for Bolton, but their most recent visit at the end of last season, finally saw them break that duck with a 29-33 victory. That season saw both sides well matched finishing 6th and 7th, with Bolton shading it due to their superior win ratio. This season is currently a very different prospect for the home side, with them having collected only a single victory over Eccles at home in Round 2. That is not to say that this game will be an easy one by any means. The results show that HP have not gone down without a fight in the four losses and they have picked up two bonus points for their troubles and always provide a stern test for any team.

For Bolton, they go into the fixture on the back of a less than perfect performance against LIttleborough that was hampered greatly by poor handling and a lack of execution. However, the Cherry & Whites did manage to collect all 5 available points after a wonder take from Joe Speakman clinched the 4th try and the bonus point. Bolton continue to hold the best scoring record in the league so far, chalking up 4+ tries in 4 out of their 5 games, however, their defensive record has taken somewhat of a beating whilst on the road, Oldham and Aspatria registering 71 points between them. Head Coach, Dave Crouch has asked the players this week to apply their focus in defence whilst continuing to flourish in attack. If Bolton are to break their away duck then it will all start with their defensive effort this coming Saturday in Barrow.

The team bus leaves Avenue Street at 11am and will be making a short stop in Lancaster on the return leg, as always, supporters are welcome to join the team on the bus.