AFTER the previous week’s crushing defeat to Wigton, Bolton finally got back to winning ways against struggling Littleborough on Saturday, a 10-6 win that keeps alive their slim chances of promotion.

The match at Avenue Street was under major threat of being postponed due to dreadful conditions but went ahead and the Cherry and Whites’ win leaves them sixth in the North Lancs and Cumbria League.

Nick Duncan scored the only try of the match with Mike Mills adding the conversion. Mills added to that with a penalty shortly before the interval to make it 10-0 to the hosts.

The damage was done in the first half and, although Littleborough reduced the deficit to six in the second half, Bolton held out for the victory.

Head coach Dave Crouch was relieved to nip their losing run in the bud after back-to-back defeats to De La Salle and Wigton.

“We had to sweat it out in the second half and we fully deserved that win out there in those difficult conditions,” he said.

He was delighted with his squad’s efforts, not least blind-side flanker Ash Cooper, who put in an outstanding performance to help secure the crucial win.

“If I was to pick a man of the match out there I would pick Ash because he stretched their backline and gave their defence a hard time all afternoon,” he added.

With a squad plagued with injuries, Crouch was impressed by his players’ resurgence in securing a win that increases the pressure on Hawcoat Park, who sit two points ahead in fifth.

Bolton’s scheduled cup match against Anselmians this weekend has been postponed, giving them an extra week to recover from their ailments and prepare for the following week’s league match at Oldham, who come into the game on the back of three victories.

“We have to work with what we’ve got and I don’t want to use our injury woes as an excuse,” he said.

“I’ve been keeping tabs with Oldham’s recent results and we will not want to go into this game the same way we did against Wigton.”

Realistically, Crouch has conceded their hopes of winning the title are over as they sit 24 points behind leaders Carlisle.

However, he has vowed to end the season with a flourish and finish in a respectable position in the league.

“I know the top two teams (De La Salle and Carlisle) have a big gap on the rest of the league and I don’t want to end the season with a whimper,” he said.

“The boys know bragging rights are at stake when we come up against Oldham because we are so close in the league and we want to avoid any future slip-ups.”