Fourteen and Still Winning

On a beautiful afternoon in Lancashire, Bolton travelled to Tarleton to see if they could continue their winning streak and put pressure on the other clubs at the top of the league.
Bolton started the game off effectively and in the first six minutes were awarded a penalty. Joe Speakman stepped up to take it, but the ball hit the post and bounced back into play. Two minutes later, Bolton won a line-out against the throw and Chris Cockton went over for the first points with Joe Speakman adding the conversion. Tarleton came back strongly and put a lot of pressure on Bolton, finally scoring in the corner to level the match. At this stage the game ebbed and flowed; both teams were well supported from the touch-line. In the twenty- sixth minute Will Bates made a lovely break to score and Joe Speakman added the conversion. Bolton were back on the scoreboard in the twenty-ninth minute, when Josh Holmes scored. There was some great inter-passing between the backs which gave Holmes the space to score. Bolton were finding a lot of space out wide and great hands by Will Bate gave Josh Holmes the opportunity to kick through and score his second try in the thirty-second minute.
Half-time: Tarleton 7 Bolton 24
Tarleton came back into the game at the start of the second-half, but Bolton’s defence held strong and caused them to make errors. In the fifty- seventh minute Will Bate received the ball from a kick, was taken out by a high tackle yet he managed to get up, hand off the Tarleton player and went over to score his second try. Joe Speakman added the conversion. Two minutes later, after sharp handling and support play, Chris Cockton ran twenty metres for his second try. Joe Speakman added the conversion. The final score for Bolton came in the sixty-second minute when Jack Robinson scored a tremendous solo try off a break from the base of a scrum. There were quite a few stoppages in the second half. Tarleton scored a good try in the eighty-second minute and added the conversion. The match ended in the eighty-eighth minute when Tarleton scored a relatively easy try.
Final score: Tarleton 21 Bolton 43
Bolton played well and possibly could have scored even more tries. Tarleton were a strong side with big forwards, but they had no real response to Bolton’s defence during the majority of the match. Bolton had set out to achieve five league points which they did commendably. The Man of the Match was Will Bate for his lines of running and his hard tackling.