HE may not always get the recognition afforded prolific try scorers but Ash Cooper proved the driving force for Bolton as they overpowered De La Salle, winning 22-10 at Avenue Street.

The flanker, regarded as the leader of the Cherry and Whites' pack, put in an all-action performance against fellow promotion hopefuls Della as they charged to a fifth straight win to stay in touch with leaders Carlisle.

Bolton led by just Mark Doherty's penalty at the break following a 40-minute attritional period but three second-half tries, all made possible by the powerful pack, gave them the points to lift them to second place in the North Lancs/Cumbria League table.

And head coach Dave Crouch was pleased with his side's current purple patch, particularly man-of-the-match Cooper as he urged his side on to victory.

"Ash had a tremendous game, he was tackling anything that moved and was always in the thick of the action," said Crouch. "He did get a stinger on his shoulder during the game but he was manful and carried on, showing what a leader he is.

"He's had a great season cajoling people in the forwards and leading by example in every game. Ash has been a real talisman in the forwards, he just goes about his business and, while he doesn't score that many tries, he is a real force to be reckoned with.

"He's fantastic at turning the ball over too, he just gets stuck in – he's such a good man to have around."

Prop forward Nick Duncan and Cooper's fellow flankers Ryan McClusky and Gaz Pritchard were the players touching down for Bolton who moved up to second with the win, eight points behind Carlisle but with a game in hand, which will be played at Wigton on January 21.

And ahead of travelling to Littleborough this Saturday Crouch is keen to keep up the winning run with four matches to negotiate before the Christmas break – not that he will be looking beyond the next game, or even the next training session.

"It was heavy going in the first half, it was a case of both sides cancelling each other out," he said. "They created one or two chances coming off the corner but we did well and held them off. We were a lot better in the second half, and they squandered their chances while we got stronger as the game went on.

"We are virtually at full strength so hopefully we can make it six wins in a row at Littleborough but we will always just play our own game and take each game as it comes.

"We have four games before Christmas and I am a great believer in just looking to the next game each week, working hard in training and preparing properly. If you start to look too far ahead your focus can go.

"I have been very pleased with our progress. Littleborough may be in mid-table but we won't take them lightly, they have a big pack too so we'll aim to move them around and get the ball out wide."