BOLTON Hockey Club’s ladies second team produced a strong performance on Sunday to see off their neighbours Bury.

Bury started as the better team but their threat was shut down by the strong defending of Jo Tanner and Rachel Shore.

Bolton grew into the game and began passing the ball nicely and some quick, forward interplay was rewarded with a penalty corner. A well-worked routine then saw Jude Gough open the scoring, converting at the near post.

Bolton kept the pressure on and scored a second through captain Viv Lake before Bury pulled one back.

Some nervy moments followed and Jenny Salmon had to be alert to make a couple of excellent saves to keep Bury out.

It was Bolton who went in to half-time on a high as Angelie Chitre rounded off another team move with a neat finish into the corner to make it 3-1 at the break.

Bury started brightly again at the start of the second half but were kept out by some excellent defensive covering by Becky Denton with Debbie Green and Nikki Ashurst working tirelessly on the flanks.

Bury eventually scored with an excellent individual effort to get themselves back to within a goal but this seemed to spark Bolton back to life with Jess Flegg and Lucy Pickles combining well.

Chloe Frost proved a constant menace up front, forcing a penalty flick after a mazy run was unceremoniously stopped by Bury’s defence.

Debbie Nicholson calmly converted to restore Bolton’s cushion and the game was capped off by a well-struck penalty corner from Lake to make the final score 5-2.

The men’s first team ground out a hard-fought win against Leigh Manchester men’s 1s.

The Bolton defence made all the difference, playing that well the keeper didn’t need to make a single save throughout the whole match.

Bolton won the game with a goal in the first half, Rob Lord beating a defender on the left wing and then crossing it into the area where Damien Pearse ran past a defender and the opposition keeper to deflect the ball into the net.

Bolton are still second place in the North West Hockey League Division One North table and only two points behind first place with five games left of the season.