IT appears Bolton RUFC have well and truly put defeat in their first match in the Lancashire and Cheshire system behind, them after clocking up their fourth straight bonus-point win.

The Cherry and Whites now ply their trade in the Lancs/Cheshire Division One and, though they were given a 49-7 beating by Bowdon when the season kicked off on September 1 they have been on an upward curve ever since.

That continued last weekend on the club’s annual Sponsors’ Day as they ran in seven tries in their 52-12 win at home to Fleetwood, with an excellent display of running rugby.

Having collected bonus points in their previous three victories the result against Fleetwood was rarely in doubt, and Bolton made sure the extra point was in the bag with more than half an hour still to play.

They had raced out of the blocks in the first half, with Ben Cottam scoring the first try three minutes in, with the visitors yet to have a touch of the ball.

Mike Mills may have missed the conversion but, with his side failing to extend the lead with tries, he landed two penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

A second try for number eight Cottam shortly before half time was added to buy Mills’ boot and the Cherry and Whites turned around 18-0 ahead.

A calf injury for Mills led to a reshuffle in Bolton’s three-quarters at the break, with left-winger Joe Speakman taking over the responsibilities with the boot.

Shortly after the restart Jonny Stanfield put pressure on Fleetwood at a ruck and, after a hack downfield allowed Bolton to launch another attack, Rhys Pritchard was the next to cross the line, Speakman adding the two points with a conversion.

After Fleetwood finally managed a try of their own the pressure on the visitors was restored and Alex Waddicar raced down the left wing after taking Ash Cooper’s pass and touched down for the fourth try to seal a fourth straight bonus point.

Fleetwood’s lousy afternoon worsened when a prop forward’s dangerous high tackle on Louis Critchlow saw the offender red-carded.

With their other front-row specialist having departed at half time through injury this led to uncontested scrums for the remainder of the game.

Bolton conceded a second try but responded with a penalty by Speakman, followed soon after by Andy Wood’s try, made by a strong break by Chris Cockton.

Wood then turned provider as he passed to Stanfield who ran 50 metres to the line around a tiring Fleetwood defence.

The final flourish came from Bolton, with Critchlow touching down and Speakman splitting the posts with the kick to make the final score 52-12, a victory that means Bolton go into this weekend’s break in third place in the table.

Dave Crouch, now the club’s director of rugby, has been delighted by his players’ response to their Bowdon defeat, and told The Bolton News: “The lads have really knuckled down after being badly beaten by Bowdon.

“We’d beaten Rochdale, Leigh and Southport and now Fleetwood, it was a very entertaining game and we’re going very well at the minute.

“We’ve come out of the Cumbrian league into the Lancashire and Cheshire, where I think there are only three teams we will have played before.

“We won’t be having any long trips to Cumbria in the middle of winter and that could make a big difference to our season. The furthest I think we have to go this season is Hoylake.

“The standard is about the same, I would say, Altrincham Kersal are always pretty good and we know how good Bowdon were on the first day.

“We’ve only played one of the top teams in the division and the pace is very quick – I think the top teams will be hard to beat. We’re not coming up against people we know very well, having played against them so much in recent years. These are different players, different teams and we will have to adapt.”

Bolton return to action on October 13 with a visit to third-bottom Tarleton.