Bolton Hockey Club’s men’s second team have made it to the final of the Level Six Lancashire Cup after a 4-1 semi-final win against Northern men’s seconds last weekend.

They got off to a lightning start, scoring after just four minutes, when Kyle Hatch flicked home from a mishit penalty corner.

Hatch was involved moments later, exchanging the ball in a one-two with Kyran Chitre, who put the ball into the roof of the net with just eight minutes gone to make it 2-0.

Bolton were relentless and with 14 minutes gone, Chitre had his second as his side’s attack tore Northern apart.

And on 20 minutes Stuart Wallace hammered a penalty corner home to all but put the game to rest.

Chitre thought he had his hat-trick as he slipped the ball past the keeper, only for a premature whistle not giving Bolton the advantage.

The home side took their foot off the pedal as the half wore on, and Northern pulled one back via a penalty corner of their own.

Into the second half, Bolton put the pressure back on with Chitre and Hatch both guilty of not putting the finishing touches on some glorious opportunities.

Sean Gibson also had a goal disallowed after another premature whistle, but it mattered little as Bolton marched into the final where they will play South Manchester seconds at the end of the season.

Half-term week usually means a break for club teams, but while the women’s section did get the weekend off, the men’s section were all in action.

And alongside the seconds, the men’s firsts were also in cup action - in a home quarter-final in the Level Three Lancashire Cup against regular league opposition, Southport firsts.

The opposition had enjoyed a comfortable home win earlier in the season, and Bolton’s job was made harder by a tough selection - five players making their first first-team appearance of the season, including three debutants.

The mixture of experience and youth was an exciting prospect for Bolton, who started the better of the two sides, confidently passing the ball around the pitch, though without causing too much threat to the Southport goal.

It was a little against the run of play that Southport took the lead, a misplaced pass from the Bolton centre-back allowed the visiting striker to run away and slot the ball under the approaching keeper.

Bolton hit back soon after, equalising after some fine build-up play earned a penalty corner. While the resulting corner was not scored, the chance broke to Joel Reiss, who made no mistake to place the ball into the corner.

Southport retook the lead not long after - an initial shot was saved but the rebound pounced upon first by the Southport striker.

Any hopes of a quick Bolton comeback were dashed immediately following half time when Southport extended their lead in similar fashion after the hosts failed to clear their lines.

The opposition grew more comfortable as the second half went on, striking the ball easily around their team.

And with 10 minutes remaining, they wrapped up the win with a fourth goal.

For Bolton it was a disappointing end to their cup run, but gave some younger members of the club valuable first-team experience.

There was little time for the men’s firsts to lick their wounds as they were back in action just 24 hours later - in a catch-up North West Men’s Division Three South clash against Lymm firsts.

On a bad weekend, they went down 3-1 - their sole goal coming from Lee Rammage. They remain sixth in the table.

It was a better weekend for the men’s thirds who also played a catch-up match in North West Men’s Division Six East against Buxton seconds and won 2-0 to move above their opponents into mid-table safety. Goals came from Richard Moore and Phil Morgan.

The previous Thursday night, the women’s firsts played a catch-up game with Oldham firsts in North West Women’s Division Two South, going down to a 4-2 defeat. Goals from Jane Topping and Jenny Brookfield were not enough as the firsts stay 10th.