Burnley 31 Bolton 21: Bolton's unbeaten league record was blown away as they went down 31-21 at Burnley.

With the home side winning the toss and electing to play against a strong wind, Bolton knew they had to work hard to build a substantial lead.

This they did as a Neil Brooks penalty was quickly followed by a try by Mark Higgins after good work by the back row. A fine line out from James Brodie then led to a drive that ended with flanker Paul Sutcliffe going over for the second try.

Bolton then weathered a ten minute period of strong play from the home side, and finished the first-half off in style with a further penalty and a try for winger Steven Kriel to post a 21-point lead,

The half-time team-talk was about keeping the the game tight for the first ten minutes of the second half but from the first line-out, two Bolton players off-loaded bad passes which eventually led to a Burnley penalty.

From the resulting kick off, Mark Higgins failed to kick the ball ten metres and a well worked move by the Burnley backs from the scrummage led to a try under the posts.

Despite leading 21-10. Bolton could not get hold of the rugby ball, and Burnley roared into the lead with two more tries.

From the restart Bolton looked lost and bewildered, and Burnley scored a final try to give them a well deserved 31-21 win.

On Saturday the first XV are at home in the league against Didsbury Toc H.

Bolton seconds enjoyed a good game against an experienced Preston Grasshoppers 3rd team before going down 33-24.

Preston took an early 7-0 lead against a relatively young and inexperienced Bolton side. Nevertheless, Bolton started to play to their strengths keeping the ball in the backs and, after some flowing rugby, full back Michael Singleton scored a try, which Tom Keech converted. On 25 minutes, flanker Jim Ramsell added a second, which Keech again converted.

With a 14-7 half-time lead, Bolton were looking good for their first league win of the season, especially when Singleton started the second half with another try.

Preston's response, however, was to play the game through their forwards and pulled back to 19-12. Bolton rallied and went further into the lead with captain Chris Turner charging over, and at 24 - 12 with less than 10 minutes left, Bolton had the win within their grasp,

However, Preston had other ideas, and three converted tries for the home team in the last eight minutes saw victory snatched away.

Bolton 3rds beat Ormskirk 10-6, the points coming from a Stuart Paul penalty and conversion, with a try from Derek Keogh.

Bolton 4ths beat Burnley 3rds 22-5 with tries from Guy Topping, Nick Griffiths and a solo effort from Simon Beswick.