Ashton-Under-Lyne 3 Bolton 3

BOLTON and their hosts produced an outstanding game of rugby in awful conditions, which could easily have led to the postponement of their North Lancashire League One fixture.

The visitors could have won with a last-gasp drop goal attempt from back-row forward Paul Sutcliffe but his 40-yeard effort was blown wide of the target.

It was match in which Bolton’s usual smooth running game was severely disrupted with the mud slowing down the normally speedy backline.

Instead, they produced a masterclass of defence and counter attack.

Throughout the first half the play went backwards and forwards with neither side able to break the deadlock.

Superb tackling by Stryker, Cockton and Sutcliffe were the highlights from the pack with neither forward line able to exert any dominance.

The backs were also outstanding in defence with try-saving tackles by Rhys and Aspinall a feature of a bruising game.

Ashton eventually broke the deadlock with a penalty against the run of play to put them 3-0 up at the end of the first half.

Bolton started the second half in much the same vein as they played the first half with strong running and rucking.

Ashton were then made to pay for constant infringements with a sweetly struck Rhys penalty to level the scores.

The rest of the game passed without further incident, continuing in the same manner.

Bolton’s hopes of a win, however, were not completely extinguished. The normally kick-shy back row forward Sutcliffe saw the opportunity to win the game when the ball came to him from the back of a ruck and he hit probably the finest drop-goal attempt of his life from 40 yards out. His moment of glory was not to be, however, as the howling wind blew the attempt agonisingly wide.

There was better luck for Bolton’s second team, who enjoyed a 13-8 win at Kirky Lonsdale.

It was match in which Bolton showed their stength, once again, in very muddy conditions.

The Avenue Street side were punished early on when Kirkby’s captain and stand-off hacked the ball through and attacked his own loose delivery to make the vital touchdown for an unconverted try.

Bolton then rallied and fine play by Dave Evans and Joe Smith forced their hosts to concede a penalty which was duly kicked by Chris Turner.

Kirkby was forced to fight a superb rearguard action as Dave Augenbrauer, Louis Critchlow and Evans continued to try to punch holes in their defence, but they held out thanks to a number of outstanding tackles.

Bolton took the lead 20 minutes into the game when quick ball from the ruck by Andy Leigh allowed Stu Evans to score in the corner, although Turner missed the conversion.

However, Kirkby kicked a penalty shortly before half time to level at 8-8. But Bolton continued to play their rugby after the interval, despite the conditions, and they were rewarded as the Kirkby mistakes came.

Bolton had possession around the halfway mark when Singleton chipped the ball elegantly into the corner of the pitch, the full back decided to throw the ball into touch directly costing Kirkby a penalty. Quick thinking from winger Will Swift allowed him to sprint across the field after a quick tap and release his fellow winger Evans to score. The conversion from the corner was missed by La Roux.

Meanwhile, Bolton’s third team had little joy in the peaks of Cumbria, losing 31-0 against Kirkby Stephen outfit Upper Eden.

The home side turned the screw in the first 15 minutes scoring four of their eventual five tries.

After this period of adjustment, Bolton started to play rugby and dominated the forward play in the set piece and through strong running by the impressive second row pairing of Earles and McLaughlin.

The second half was brightened by the introduction of Whittaker on the wing who made several darting runs to test the Cumbrians’ defence to the limit.

The game finished with Bolton taking no reward from their long trip, but they can take heart from the fact that they played the game with a positive attitude and always ran the extra yard.