BOLTON Rugby Club’s first XV recorded a fine 33-27 away win at North Two West high-flyers Keswick on Saturday.

Prior to the clash, both teams paid respect to Cameron Milton - a member of the Colts team who had passed away last week - with a one-minute applause to celebrate his life and his love of rugby.

After that, Bolton kicked off against the third-placed hosts and there was a frantic start with great pace in both backlines.

Bolton’s Simon Steel had a fantastic start, looking a threat every time the ball went out to his wing.

But neither side was able to break the deadlock, with both teams seemingly very determined to get off to a good start and not give anything silly away.

After 15 minutes the Bolton defence did give way and Keswick’s number 11 was in for a try, which saw them take a 5-0 lead.

At the 20-minute mark, tempers boiled over, leading to Keswick’s number 17 and Bolton’s Will Bate both seeing yellow and taking 10 minutes to cool off.

With both teams down to 14 men, Keswick’s back line once again showed why they are third in the league on 27 minutes when the opposite winger was in for his first try. Having missed both conversions the score stood at 10-0.

Bolton finally got their chance to get some points on the board with a short-range penalty for Ben Price to step up, but he did not get the wind right and missed.

With both teams now back to full strength it looked like the half was going to end with Keswick taking a 10-point lead into the break but Bolton were determined to not have a scoreless half.

And one minute before the whistle, Steel was in for his first try to make it 10-7 at the midway point.

The outstanding player for Bolton for the first half was Paul Leigh, leading the pack brilliantly by showcasing several times the definition of a chop tackle.

The second half kicked off and Bolton started in the exact same way they ended the first half and Price scored a superb team try but missed his chance to convert.

Nevertheless, it put Bolton into the lead for the first time at 12-10.

The tables really had turned and every time Bolton had ball in hand they looked like they could score.

The forwards now wanted to prove their job on the pitch and Leigh was in for Bolton’s third try.

However, shortly after Keswick replied with a try which brought the score back to 19-15, it looked like the last 25 minutes were going to be tense and the game could have gone either way.

But Bolton scored two quick tries to ease the pressure - the first from Steel and the second from a fantastic interception from Price.

With the game looking as good as over at 33-15 with 15 minutes to go and Keswick needing to score 18 points, Bolton made a substitution and shuffled a few different positions around.

It allowed the hosts to build up a head of steam and they scored two tries of their own.

But these were only consolations as the full-time whistle sparked celebrations for man-of-the-match Leigh and his Bolton team-mates.

On Saturday, the Cherry and Whites travel to face the might of Rochdale.