BOLTON bounced back from defeat at promotion-chasing Tarleton, running in nine tries to record their eighth win in nine matches against a below-par Garstang side.

Fly-half Mark Doherty capped an assured performance by contributing 23 points while man-of-the-match Tony McCloughlin proved a powerful presence in both attack and defence.

The Cherry and Whites had enjoyed some close battles with Garstang over the years, and the opening exchanges were typically tight.

Indeed, it took some quick feet from Rhys Pritchard to break the deadlock, as he scythed through the visitors’ defence to score under the posts. Doherty landed the first of nine conversions to give Bolton a 7-0 lead, and they never looked back.

The try appeared to curtail Garstang's early endeavour and it was only a matter of time before Bolton’s dominance at both the set-piece and the breakdown opened up further gaps for their rampant backline to exploit.

Danny Joseph’s incisive run and clever commitment of the Garstang full-back released the returning Chris Cockton, who galloped under the posts for the second try and further scores followed from Alex Waddicar and Daryl McDowall, as Bolton's three quarter line ran riot.

Leading 28-0 at half time Bolton already had a bonus point in the bag.

Early in the second half, Louis Critchlow continued his barnstorming performance, with the energetic Nick Sandbrook and Matthew Parrish constantly breaking the gain line.

This physical dominance from the forwards allowed scrum-half Nick Lever the clean ball he needed to unleash the backline, who showed no mercy to Garstang.

Marcus O’Donaghoe raced down the touchline and flicked the ball inside for Joseph to dive over.

O’Donaghoe added a try of his own soon after, and Bolton began to make some changes with two substitutes scoring tries, including youngster Gareth Pritchard, who continues to impress and belie his tender years.

Fittingly, the deadly-accurate Doherty had the final word on the scoring front, adding a try to his personal points tally.

The win took Bolton to fourth in North Lancs Division One and confirmed their status as one of the form teams of the division giving them a confidence boost ahead of a tough trip to Bunley on Saturday.

Mark Crow, Mike Richardson and Ben Stubbs scored the tries as Bolton’s second team won 20-15 away to Vale of Lune thirds.

The Bolton third team had a day they would rather forget, going down 43-7 at home to Wigan, but the fourths had an impressive 42-10 win at Blackpool, where the tries came from Carlos Spencer (two), James Lock, Jack Dickinson, Leith Howie, Les Towler and Gaz Flounders.

l Tyldesley, whose basement clash away to fellow South Lancs and Cheshire One strugglers Bowdon was postponed due to pitch conditions on Saturday, have a tough test at home to West Park SH this weekend.