De La salle 14 Bolton 48
Bolton travelled the short distance down the A580 to De La Salle for an early kick-off so that the De La Salle players had the opportunity to go to the Rugby League Grand Final. This was always going to be well contested game with De La Salle having come down from the league above and Bolton not winning away from home.
The game started with both sides trying to show their dominance: Bolton in the scrums and De La salle with big clearance kicks down the pitch. In the tenth minute Bolton were awarded a penalty. De La Salle scored the first try in the fifteenth minute from a driving maul off the lineout. Bolton responded straight from the restart. Ben Cottam secured the ball and from the ensuing ruck the ball was passed to Niall Murphy who picked a lovely ball to Louis Critchlow through the gap to score. Rhys Pritchard added the conversion. In the twenty-seventh and thirty- first minute, De La Salle kicked two penalties. Bolton replied with another try in the thirty-fifth minute. A quick penalty taken by James Singleton put Louis Critchlow into space and he drew the cover and that enabled Kyle Anderson to run forty metres to score. Rhys Pritchard added the conversion. In the last play of the half De La Salle were awarded a penalty which they converted to draw level.
Half-time score De La Salle 14 Bolton 14
Bolton started the second with more aggression in their defence and were awarded a penalty in the forty-fifth minute which Rhys Pritchard converted. Within two minutes they were on the scoreboard again. Simon Frost made a really strong break; the ruck was formed, and the ball went from James Singleton to Niall Murphy. Niall put Connor Orrell through the gap to score the try and Rhys Pritchard added the conversion. In the fiftieth minute, some great team play led to Gaz Hession making a break and Ryan McClusky scored the try and Rhys Pritchard added the conversion. Bolton moved towards the De La salle line with good retention of the ball and great continuity. This led to Louis Critchlow going over the line to score his second try in the sixty- fifth minute. De La Salle kept trying to move the ball with their big runners, but the Bolton defence held them out. In one such attack De La Salle moved the ball down their line. Rhys Pritchard made the interception and then ran forty-five metres to score and he then added the conversion. The final score of the match went to James Singleton in the seventy-fourth minute.
Final score: De La Salle 14 Bolton 48
This was Bolton’s first away win of the season which was very pleasing. De La Salle played their part in the game and tried hard to win the gain line with their big players running hard, Bolton’s defence held firm particularly in the second half. Bolton were far more clinical in the second half and hence they scored five tries. Overall a much better performance from the team.
Man of the Match: Mark Aspinall carried the ball consistantly and defended really well.