It’s all very well being able to field a talented and threatening back division, despite the absence of Bob MacCallum and sundry others, but it won’t win matches for you unless it receives sufficient possession of the ball. That it managed on starvation rations to score two second half tries, which briefly put Wilmslow into a winning position is testimony to the talent the club currently has to call on in that department.

For the Wolves though, the problem is up front in the pack, particularly in the front five, where their young players were simply swept aside and annihilated by an older more powerful Bolton eight. The first eight scrums, where Wilmslow had the put in, were all lost against the head. The only time there was any parity in the scrum was when the game had to resort to uncontested scrummaging in the final two minutes. Otherwise the set piece was painful to watch and for the players involved, it will have been the most painful and chastening experience of their rugby lives. The boys though represent the future of Wilmslow rugby and the question now is whether they can learn from this, work to improve their techniques and summon the character and resolve to put the experience behind them. If they can, then their day will come.

Bolton are in their first season at this level and this was their third win in twelve outings. They possess a rugged looking pack of forwards and in Mark Donnelly, known affectionately as ‘Fish’, they have an effective playmaker at No. 10, who showed that he also knows the way to the try line.

They were first out of the traps, perhaps surprising themselves at the ease with which they were taking Wilmslow scrum ball and on the third occasion after nine minutes, Donnelly slipped a tackle in midfield and ran away for the opening score, which he converted himself.

The Wolves’ response was immediate and minutes later, Nick Barker, who probably had his best game at No. 9, took on goal kicking duties and promptly knocked over a penalty, when Bolton offended in their own twenty two. The respite was only temporary as the mayhem in the scrum continued and the Wolves got penalised more than once. Donnelly though was successful with only one penalty attempt after twenty minutes. To add to the Wolves woe, winger Ian Culligan got yellow carded but then on the half hour, the Wolves forwards managed to put together several drives in the Bolton half, Lawrence James came in from full back on a powerful diagonal run, skipper Mike Black surged towards the line and when he was stopped, the ball conveniently appeared for hooker Johnny Newsham to pick up and touch down. Barker’s conversion rebounded off the post but given what we had seen thus far, the Wolves two point deficit at this stage could have been much worse. How Bolton then failed to score from a series of scrums close to the Wolves line in the minutes before half time will for ever be a mystery.

The second half was well underway when Donnelly decided to launch an aerial attack on the Wolves defence. Unfortunately for him, the ball came down on around the Wilmslow ten metre line, where it was taken by full back James at pace. James then put in a slightly speculative kick, which sat up conveniently for him and from nothing he managed to make the line. Five minutes later, No. 8 Alex Taylor broke from the base of the only half decent scrum the Wolves managed all afternoon and when the ball was released to the backs, they went left and then back right where Ed Stobart broke the defence and ran in for the Wolves third try. When Barker kicked a penalty five minutes later, the Wolves were suddenly but implausibly 23-10 ahead.

The home side though roused themselves for the last quarter. The Wilmslow defence started to fall off tackles. Bolton runners were pouring through the gaps, their forwards bullocked their way up the field and it wasn’t long before their scrum was cruising towards the Wilmslow line. When they lost control, the ball came to Donnelly who powered over from short distance. Back they came again and this time, they pushed the Wolves scrum back in a kind of reverse gallop for all of twenty metres for No. 8 James Broady to touch down. Donnelly then slotted a penalty when opting for a scrum may well have have paid greater dividends and further carnage would surely have followed if the game hadn’t resorted to uncontested scrums.

Bolton were thoroughly deserved winners and the Wolves can count themselves fortunate to have escaped with a losing bonus point.