ALEX Tonge was Bolton’s hat-trick hero as the club’s under-16s outmuscled Sedgley Park in a dominant 36-5 victory on Sunday.

Not for the first time this season, the home side were forced to shuffle their pack ahead of kick off.

Dom Hardy, who stepped into the number nine position after another second-row forward was lost in the warm-up, controlled the set-pieces throughout.

However, the opening score of the game came from a ruck, which resulted in Alex Tonge breaking through Sedgley tackles to go over for a try.

The aggressive duo of Joe Mackey and Brandon Booth came in with a pair of big hits to give the Cherry and Whites fast ball from a ruck where Hardy was able to feed Jake Ryan.

Ryan used his electric pace to skip past the Sedgley defence and score under the posts.

A combination of Bolton’s great counter-rucking and Sedgley’s weak tackling allowed Tonge to add to his tally which further extended the hosts’ lead.

Bolton began the next try from deep inside their own half with a switched pass which gave Jack Byrne the space to race down the pitch. Sedgley denied the number 12 from scoring but were left helpless when Jordan Griffiths pounced on James Holland’s audacious kick over the defence.

A first-half rout was completed when the physicality of the Bolton forwards put Ollie Thompson through for the fifth try which meant Bolton had a 29-0 lead at the break.

Sedgley took advantage of some Bolton complacency at the start of the second half when they scored a try in the corner following a good passage of play.

But Bolton came straight back at them and Tonge completed his hat-trick with yet another bulldozing try.

Nat May moved to scrum-half when Hardy was forced off with an injury after colliding with his own second-row forward in the later stages of the game but it had little effect on the result as Bolton saw out the win comfortably.

Meanwhile, the under-13s were brave but fell short to an impressive Manchester outfit in a heavy 50-15 defeat in the first fixture between the two sides.

It took a last-ditch tackle from Bolton’s Leon Hodson to save them from conceding from the kick off when Manchester began in quick, pressing fashion.

But the resistance did not hold for long as the pressure continued and the home side went over for the first try.

James Hopkinson was the main victim of the attack when he suffered a blow to the face which ended his game early on, the Bolton lad having to go to hospital to have his broken nose straightened.

It looked like the beginning of a long day when, in the first eight minutes, Manchester added two more tries, thanks in no small part to one of the fastest players Bolton had ever faced.

However, Bolton dug deep and refused to stop fighting. They battled hard to hold the ball long enough to take themselves to Manchester’s five-metre line before some clever recycling of possession allowed Sam Atherton to barge his way over the line.

The leaders added another two tries before the break but Hodson pegged them back with tries of his own.

The first came from strong running following an excellent kick and the second was the result of one of the best moves of the match. Hodson benefited from some free-flowing passing between Sam McDowell and Ben Price to go over.

Relentless tackling from the forwards, particularly Connor Whittle, Levi Waite and Connor Winteringham, was the theme of the second half but they found it hard to contain Manchester’s bigger and more mobile pack.

The commitment from Bolton cannot be questioned but a few tired tackles late in the day left gaps which Manchester exploited.

Despite the scoreline it was a gutsy performance, but Bolton were simply outplayed by a well-drilled, superior team.