Easter proved a tough weekend to select a team with Dave Evans, Ryan Wignall and Danny Joseph drafted into the squad as Bolton struggled to raise a 15. Also in the mixer were Andy Crimmins and JP Singleton both joining the backs division. A full 15 was finally achieved when Rick ‘Waaaaaaaaa Waaaaaaaaaa’ Sandbrook stopped crying about his mild hangover and donned his kit to slot in at flanker - a position more alien to him than the idea of Nick Sandbrook only eating three burgers for lunch.
15 men, check. Time to play rugby. Unusually (ha) for a Bolton team the best of starts wasn’t had as Bolton mistakes saw them quickly under pressure from the Rochdale backline.
Before Rick Sandbrook could start crying again due to a slight cut and leave the field for completely unnecessary blood "treatment" (read "a tissue") Bolton quickly found themselves behind as Dale opened the scoring. It was to prove a one way street for a while as further scores saw them garner an 18 point lead.
Despite the now obligatory poor start Bolton slowly worked their way back into the game as the pack and the backs begin to create trouble with the ball in hand. Defensively Bolton also stepped up, Danny Joseph and Tom ‘Cumbrian League next year’ Relph in particular with some crucial last man tackles. Boltons reward was a try right on half time as Dave ‘The Volcano’ Evans briefly erupted as he collected an inside ball from ten Andy Crimmins, having spotted the line Dave “Sebastien Chubb-al” Evans found some pace (approximately 2-3 miles per hour) which had been dormant for years to touch down next to the sticks, sending the record home crowd of 5 people into raptures. Token squad ginger Rob "we thought we could get a lottery grant if we had a ginger playing for us" Terry stepping up to add the extras. Half time blown shortly after giving Dave Evans a well needed rest after his 10 yard dash.
H/T: 7 – 18
Bolton started brightly in the second half but couldn’t get an additional score despite JP Singleton and Dave ‘Relph’ Ormes both going close. Dale where to however get the next couple of scores, adding 2 further tries to pull clear. Yet Bolton continued to fight back and to run the ball full back Danny Joseph on a scything run from deep looking to have scored a spectacular try before being caught just short of the line by a blindside tackle, Tom Relph managing scoop the ball up and in true Relph fashion knock the ball on and land on it over the line to score . Conversion possibly added by Terry.
The best was yet to come as Bolton finished the game off with a try of the season individual effort from the lively JP ‘Falcon’ Singleton which started with a quick tap penalty and ended in Singleton rounding too many players to mention and out pacing the final Dale man to touch down in the corner. Conversion missed if my maths is correct, which you would hope given that I'm supposed to be an engineer.
F/T: 19 – 32
Fraser Hart MOM: JP Singleton
The Tom Relph Knock On Award – finally Mr Relph lets someone else win – Dave Ormes
The They call him Mr Glass Award – Guess Who? – Rick Sandbrook
Animal Noise of the Day – MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The Hangover Award sponsored by Carlsberg – Too many to list…
The white stick and guide dog award for useless no look passes – Ryan Wignall
Sandbach 2 v Rossendale 2
See below photo of the Sandbach celebration after winning the Division 1 title and being promoted to the Premier League
The Raging Bull NW Leagues Cheshire Cakes Div 2 South Whitchurch 2nd XV 31 pts v 34 pts Broughton Park 3rd XV
An ecstatic Alan Marsland reports !!!!
2013-04-06 The Raging Bull NW Leagues Div. 4 North Wigan 3rd XV 36pts v 19 pts Vale of Lune 4th XV
A much tighter game than the score might suggest !!!
Some great pictures once again from Vales' Chief Phtographer Tony North !!
After losing 133 pts to Nil in recent game Vale keep the score in this, the only game today in the Leagues to only 96 pts.
Quote of the day " Steven Briggs Vale's scrum half - What was the score today Ref ?? Ref Shaun Mcglue " 96 pts to 3 pts !! Feels like a win Sir today !!! Thanks for a good game .
The Bateman BMW League Conf. B Wilmslow 2nd XV 26 pts v 15 pts Vale of Lune 2nd XV
Vale come up against an efficient Wilmslow side !!!
Pictures by David Pyke Wilmslow !!!
| Home (Bolton 2) |
Away (Rochdale 2) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Points | 19 | 32 |
| League Position | 3 | 3 |