BOLTON U17s secure their 12th win continuing their unbeaten record!

A cold but dry morning saw Didsbury Toc H arrive to take on the unbeaten Bolton U17 team. Didsbury were a few players short, so the referee recommended that Bolton lend them players to keep it 15 vs 15. Sadly that meant lending Didsbury the very talented Alfie Kay, Matthew Moore, Tom Crook and Joe Fraser-Taylor from the U16s, and Adam Munshie.
The strength of the U16s forwards meant that from the start the match was very even, and Didsbury powered down the field. For the first 10 minutes of the match Didsbury dominated the rucks with Tom Crook showing tremendous strength. However, the tone of the game changed after Didsbury gave away a penalty, and George Lilleywhite made a fantastic run halfway up the pitch. Kier Kernick passed the ball to Kane Lyons who made a fantastic pass to Adam Hackin. Adam Hackin then kicked the ball and charged after it, picking it up and flicking it out to Will French who powered through a number of the Didsbury defence before handing the ball to Tom Evans who charged over the line for the first try of the match – 5-0 to Bolton.

The next kick off saw Didsbury win the ball, but a crunching tackle by Jonny Wallis saw the ball back in Bolton’s hands. Both sides made mistakes leading to a Didsbury scrum and then a Bolton scrum soon after. Harvey Banks made a great drive and then an excellent Bolton ruck involving Will Hinchcliffe, and Morgan Skeels-Caldwell saw Jonny Wallis pick up the ball from the back of the ruck 5 metres out and he drove across the line to score – 10-0 to Bolton. The conversion was a sharp angle but Matthew Chowdhury kept his cool and the ball sailed between the posts – 12-0.
The next 10 minutes saw the ball change hands on a number of occasions. Huge tackles by Tom Heatherington, Callum Naylor and Adam Hackin prevented Didsbury from making too much ground, but some quick passing by Didsbury enabled them to sprint over the line, 12-5.
Bolton quickly regained the upper hand, and a fantastic drive by Will French led to a 5 yard scrum. The ball was passed out rapidly from George Lilleywhite to the talented U16 Ben Turner who sprinted across the line – 17-5 to Bolton at half time. The second half saw Alex Greenhalgh come on (another of the talented U16s) as Tom Heatherington sustained a dead leg when he made a crunching tackle. Bolton maintained the pressure and the ball was passed along the line from Chowdhury to Hackin to George Lilleywhite who scored Bolton’s 4th try – 22-5. There were a number of line-outs in the second half, and Connor McGaughey’s throw-ins were excellent which meant that Bolton won the lion’s share. One such line-out led to Will French winning the ball, and doing a fantastic kick and chase down the field, but some excellent defence by Didsbury (especially the Bolton U16s playing for them!) prevented a try.
Then, in the last 15 minutes of the match, some strong work in the ruck saw the ball passed out wide to the Didsbury winger who sprinted over the line for a try – 22-12.
The final minute saw another superb line-out throw by Connor enable the ball to be driven towards the try line, and Jonny Wallis charged over the line, but the try was disallowed. The whistle went and Bolton U17s had secured their 12th win out of 12 matches. Matthew Chowdhury had an excellent game, kicking well to gain ground. The U16s really stepped up, making some great drives, runs and supportive work, Morgan, Kane, Ben, Alex, Callum, Matthew, Alfie, Tom, Kier and Joe should be very proud of the impact they had on this game.

Bolton R.U.F.C.

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