With weather that has been more suited to water polo than football over the last few weeks, the Old Boltonians had not kicked a ball in competitive anger for five weeks. A period which had seen many of their title rivals play a number of games. A mixed bag of results and an apparent reluctance of any one time to take the league by the horns meant that, the Old Boltonians were lying in 4th spot in the league, only 2 points from the top, but importantly with games in hand. The game this week was to play a Horwich RMI team that had been somewhat rejuvenated of late. The pitch was looking surprisingly grassy, so the game promised to be a good one.
The Old Boltonians started the game efficiently; they looked solid and Horwich were pretty unthreatening. However, the Old Boltonians provided little attacking threat of their own, despite keeping the ball for long periods. The opening half hour of the game was a stand off. The Old Boltonians were in desperate need of a spark. This season the Old Boltonians have changed from a team built on a tight defensive unit to all out attack - surely goals were on the way. Rob Taylor duly obliged. The youngster, Alex Meany, produced a clever and ostentatious piece of trickery on the right and scooped the ball into the box when in a tight space. Taylor got up well and nodded past the Horwich keeper from close range. 1-0.
Within minutes the lead was doubled. A long goal kick from the Horwich keeper was controlled first time by the Old Boltonians skipper, Craig Jolley, 10 yards in his own half. Jolley then hit a 40 yard pass directly into the path of the Alex Meany, who found himself in acres of space on the right. Meany whipped in a cross that found its way to Nick Luke. Luke played a neat ball back into the box (actually a shot!) that fell to the feet of Darren Dalton. The baby faced assassin doesn't miss from there and grabbed his 8th goal of an impressive season. Half-time came and went with the scores still the same.
The Old Boltonians didn"t quite find their rhythm to the same degree in the second half, but were far too strong for a lacklustre Horwich side. Old Boltonians had numerous chances to increase the lead with midfield dynamos Saul Rostron and Matt McClellan both hitting the frame of the goal. The lead was eventually added to when M McClellan nodded in from a well struck corner from Nick Luke. Final score – 3-0. The Old Boltonians now find themselves top of the table with a game in hand over all of their nearest four challengers.