Rugby Union
Unlucky 13 for plucky Bolton
Bolton 0 Burnley 6
UNLUCKY Bolton could not prevent in-form Burnley from running away with their 13th consecutive victory despite a committed defensive display.
Two penalties settled the tie, but had the Cherry and Whites taken their chances, they could easily have caused an upset against North Lancs One's second-placed club.
They played well throughout, and only a lack of cutting edge prevented them from leading at the break.
Bolton had dominated possession, with both Alex Youngman and Paul Sutcliffe putting in huge performances on the flanks.
The second half was an immensely physical battle. Both sides were left toeing the line after receiving sin bins in the first period.
Gregg Abbott and JP Singleton went close, but in the end, Burnley pipped the game with two well-taken penalties.
Great heart can be taken into Bolton's next game against runaway leaders Heaton Moor on Saturday.
A patched-up second team were beaten 53-17 at Vale of Lune, paying the price for several late squad withdrawals.
Lune crossed the line three times early on, but 14-man Bolton got back into it when Parrish's determination saw him touch down following a tap penalty.
Vale stretched their lead with two more scores before a try from Johhny Hill brought the scores to 31-12 at the break.
The home side took full advantage of their extra man after the restart, leaving Bolton with only a try from Hayes to show for their dogged efforts.
Lee Mills was given the man of the match award for what was always going to be a losing battle.
The third team came out with another victory from an enthralling contest with Blackburn.
They lead 19-0 at the break thanks to two tries from Jim Ramsell - taking him to 20 for the season - and another score from Alan Catherall.
Guy Lovegreen stretched the lead to 22 points with a kick from 40 yards out and, though Blackburn did rally for a try of their own, James Dean capitalised on a lucky bounce to end their brief resistance.
They face Fylde on Saturday in a clash between second and third in the table.
The fourth team lost 29-6 against Ormskirk, losing the game in the second half as the fourth-placed home side turned the screw.
After a lapse in concentration cost an early try, Simon Clarke converted two early penalties to put Bolton within a point at the break.
But the home side brought on some quality from the bench and ran away with the game in the second period, particularly after the loss of Towler and Clarke through injury.
Bolton's under-17s will face either Manchester or Sedgley Park in the first round of the Colts Plate following their 5-0 defeat against Kirkby Lonsdale in their final league game of the season.
Bobby Bolton's first-half try did little to lighten the mood for the Under-16s, who were beaten 28-12 in a fractious game at Fleetwood.
Trailing 14-7 at the break, Bolton became increasingly frustrated by Fleetwood's consistent infringement in the rucks, and that feeling of injustice contributed to a disjointed second-half show. They will be hoping for better in the quarter finals of the cup against Liverpool Collegiate this weekend.
Richard Gallagher, David Harding and Seb Reilly were among the try scorers for the Under-13s in their 46-17 victory over Fleetwood.
Their next game is against Tyldesley this weekend in the cup quarter final.
The Under-12s lost 30-7 with Tyler Corless scoring the only try of the game.
The under-12s lost 26-22, but there was better news for the under-8s, who beat their Fleetwood counterparts.
1:17am Wednesday 27th February 2008
Print 
Email this
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!