Bolton 7 Keswick 3

Saturday saw Keswick Rugby Club First XV travel to Bolton for a match that was played on a wet pitch topped up by drizzle that didn’t stop all game, though as a bonus there was no wind. ‘We call it Lake District weather’ said one of their committee. All credit is due to Bolton’s ground staff in preparing a playable, though muddy, surface on a day when 3 other matches locally were victims of the weather. Perhaps the fact that their groundsman had visited Keswick 2 weeks previously and sought advice from the Keswick ground staff had had an impact.
Bolton were very hospitable off the pitch but were fierce opponents on it. Having had a relatively poor start to the season they had recently had a winning run and were not keen to give it up. Bolton kicked off and Keswick knocked on immediately, giving them an opportunity to show their scrummaging ability early. Bolton used their forwards to drive round the fringes before passing out to the backs, who proved difficult to stop, with Keswick missing, or making weak, tackles. An early attack by Bolton was halted when they knocked on and that became a pattern for both sides as the wet and muddy ball proved to be a challenge for everyone. Keswick’s pack was the better in the scrum, pushing Bolton back, but Bolton’s quick release meant that they ensured possession from those set pieces. The line-outs were evenly matched on the whole, but both sides occasionally gifted the ball to the opposition through mis-timed throwing in.
The teams were well drilled and had similar playing styles, based around forward play for position before releasing the backs. In the sticky conditions Keswick tried to keep the ball in hand with forwards and backs combining well but progress upfield was difficult. As players tired on the slow surface kicking from hand became more common and some good touch kicks were completed by both sides, though kicks to the full back were also used, leading to some knock-ons.
Good defence work was denying either side an advantage though Bolton were generally making the better use of the ball in attack. Good interplay between Keswick’s David Ray and Christian Sellars almost created a clean break for the try line on the right. Eventually Bolton were able to run from a scrum on the half-way line and broke down the right for the first score, converted successfully, 7-0 after 21 minutes. Keswick attacked back straight away but lost possession too easily and were only able to cross the Bolton try line once, but with the decision that the ball had been held up. They did win a scrum some 10 metres out and marched the Bolton pack back towards their line until the scrum collapsed about 3 metres out. A penalty was not forthcoming and Keswick’s advantage had gone.
In the second half the conditions continued to frustrate both sides, with Bolton being warned for giving away too many penalties before one allowed Andy Muir to convert after 10 minutes to close the gap to 7-3. Two penalties in the half gave Bolton the chance to kick for goal to open the gap further, but both were missed. Keswick decided that driving play was the way forward and created some great rolling mauls only to lose possession before getting close enough to set the backs running. On 3 occasions the mauls collapsed before Keswick got close enough to mount a full attack and perhaps on a different day there would have been a different outcome. When they were given the opportunity to run the Keswick backs showed their quality with some good passing and recycling at the breakdown, but this was not a day for an open running game.
Bolton continued to defend well, as did Keswick, though both attacked at every opportunity and neither was prepared to sit back as one score either way would have been decisive. But on the day it was the conditions that dictated the quality of the game, though not the intensity, and the final score of 7-3 is probably a fair reflection. The result leaves Keswick fourth, 3 points behind and one game in hand, but only 5 points separate the top 7 teams.
Saturday will see Fleetwood, currently 9th, visiting Davidson Park and after a high-scoring game away, expect plenty of excitement if you can make it to the ground.