BOLTON put two narrow defeats firmly behind them with three tries in a 22-17 victory at Trafford Metrovicks.

The Cherry and Whites had lost ground on the leaders in the North Lancs and Cumbria League after a one-point defeat to Oldham and a loss by two points at Littleborough in previous matches.

But, although both sides touched down three times at Trafford it was Dave Crouch’s side who remained in the promotion picture with a festive cheer-boosting victory.

After they had fallen behind to an unconverted try the visitors got on the board through Mark Doherty, who benefited from the pack’s power to score from a driving maul, before Louis Critchlow crashed over for a second try.

Sam Fogg touched down for the third score, supporting Jonny Stansfield after initially sending him through to receive the ball back and covering the final 22 yards to just make it to the line.

“It’s always good to get back to winning ways,” said the head coach. “Trafford are a very good side and they were hard to break down.

“But we played some good stuff and it’s always good to get a win, especially after losing the two games before.

“We are well in touch with the teams near the top, and we’ll go into the last game before Christmas knowing a win will put us right up there, so we’ll keep going along and hopefully picking up the points we need.”

There was no bonus point for Bolton and although Carlisle have established a 12-point cushion at the top Crouch’s men are just four points behind second-placed Wigton.

Although they go into 2016’s final fixture at home to Fleetwood without Mike Mills, who suffered a rib injury at Trafford, and pack leader Ash Cooper due to work commitments, Crouch has every confidence that his squad – galvanised by their Christmas celebrations last week which involved everyone wearing charity shop-sourced outfits bought by a team-mate – can get the job done.

“We’re looking forward to it,” said Crouch, who admits he sported ‘a lovely blue dress’ on the night out. “We have a couple missing and Fleetwood have improved since we last met (a 35-13 win last month) so we know extra effort will be needed.”