BOLTON Junior Colts under-17s drew 13-13 when they entertained Newcastle for the first time.

With six regular players out it was going to be a difficult day with players playing out of position.

Three under-16s stepped up and Bolton started poorly with their much-changed side.

Newcastle took an 8-0 lead into half time with a well-worked try and a penalty, and Bolton could count themselves lucky the deficit was not greater..

The second half saw an improved performance and Bolton reduced the arrears when u16’s player Jack Byrne went over.

Half-time substitute Ben Turner converted and when he kicked another penalty Bolton found themselves in front.

The game swung back Newcastle’s way when they scored a try from a rolling maul in the corner but Turner pulled the scores level with a penalty.

The u13’s were beaten 30-5 at home to Fylde in the cup.

It proved an anti-climax after the previous week’s excellent cup victory at Ormskirk which left the local lads fancying their chances with home advantage in this next-round game.

Fylde, however, showed why they are favourites to win the competition and why they have not been beaten for more than two seasons with a near perfect display of attacking passing coupled with a ruthless efficiency in the breakdown.

Bolton found themselves two tries down early on and it was a blow to their confidence from which they struggled to recover.

Cameron Halliday, returning from injury helped bolster the pack and win a fair share of the scrums, but the defensive organisation of Fylde snuffed out almost all Bolton’s attacks before they could get any momentum.

There was good effort put in again from Mark Glynn Oliver Keogh and Ben Price in the backs, and Keogh salvaged some Bolton pride with a late try which maintained his record of having scored in every match this season.

U9s away at Vale of Lune

Bolton U9s produced an impressive performance to record three resounding victories against Vale of Lune and Penrith.

They beat Vale of Lune 8-2 then 11-0 before storming to a 15-2 win against Penrith.

Early tries from Corey Morgan, Reuben Quayle and his sister Rae put Bolton in control against Vale in the first game of the tournament in Cumbria.

Vale clawed it back to 3-2 before Bolton took over.

The second game saw a brilliant display of the young team’s rugby skills, both in defence and attack before a combination of great defence and running saw off Penrith.

BOLTON Under-18s put up a brave battle in defeat to Ashton where they were a man down for all the second half.

The Avenue Street team were leading 12-7 at the interval, but George Lilleywhite suffered an injury scoring a superb try on the stroke of half time which left him sidelined for the rest of the game.

And with Bolton only taking a bare 14 to the away game due to injuries it meant they had to play the full second half a man short.

They fought valiantly and were still in with a chance of victory at 21-19 behind in the last minute.

But it was the home side who scored in the dying seconds to clinch a 28-19 victory.

Harvey Banks played despite still recovering from an injury while Ashton had a squad of 18.

Bolton started off strongly with Banks stealing the ball on a number of occasions and Jamie Currie putting in some tremendous tackles on the Ashton backs.

David Price made a tremendous kick to Bolton an excellent position for the line-out only yards away from the try line.

Bolton are always strong in this position, and an excellent throw by Matthew Chowdhury saw Bolton use the ball well, and Morgan Smith and the pack ensured Banks was driven over for a try.

Ashton hit back to make it 7-5 and just before half time the game-changing incident saw Adam Hackin burst through the Ashton defence and pass to Lilleywhite who showed speed and agility to score.

He suffered a back injury which is expected to rule him out for a few weeks.

Price converted the try to make it 12-7 to Bolton but Ashton had an early try converted in the second half and another try swiftly followed to put them 21-12 ahead.

Bolton rallied impressively and Sam Smith’s excellent play saw the ball whipped out to Adam Hackin who touched down and Price converted it to reduce the arrears to 21-19 before Ashton killed them off at the death.