Bolton 1st 2 Wigan 1st 0: BOLTON had the best possible start to the new year by reaching the Lancashire Cup final, after a 2-0 defeat of close rivals Wigan.

Bolton started as the underdogs against a Wigan team playing two divisions higher, but the gulf between the two sides never showed.

They took the game to Wigan straight from the off, but were unable to convert a couple of good early chances. Wigan rallied, but Bolton weathered the storm, and then grabbed the breakthrough midway through the first half when excellent work from midfield ripped the Wigan defence apart. It was left to Chris Aitken to delightfully deflect the ball to give Bolton the lead.

Wigan woke up again and came back hard at Bolton, but excellent defending from Chris Dean and Toby Jones, stopped the efforts of the Wigan forwards. With Paul Neville belting out the orders from the goalmouth, Bolton's defence stayed firm until half time.

The second half was very tight with lots of goalmouth action from both teams. A couple of challenges forced a reshuffle in the Bolton line when they lost Shane Wilson and Andy Chadwick through injury, but they were not put off and hit back with another goal. Great wing work from Chris Lord and an inch perfect cross into the danger area fell invitingly for Aitken to coolly flick his and Bolton's second of the match.

Bolton made life tricky for themselves when former skipper Chris Williams was dismissed for an outburst at an official, but they survived.

Bolton HC Ladies 1st 8 Bury & Elton 1st 0

Bolton were far too good for their local rivals despite a rusty start.

Vicky Hirst broke the deadlock when she pounced on a rebound and blasted the ball home, before Jenny Cocker added a second.

Bolton stepped up a gear after the break and Holly Dean scored after following a shot up and slammed the ball into the back of the net from four yards out. Dean and Hirst grabbed further goals before player-of-the-match Charlotte Harrison added a fifth. Both Hirst and Dean scored hat-tricks by lobbing the keeper.

Bolton Men's 3rd 3 Bowden 6th 3

Bolton's charge towards the top of the table was halted after they threw away a 3-1 lead with just 10 minutes left.

After an even first half, the game sprung to life in the second when Bowden took the lead after a mistake in the Bolton defence, only for Bolton to go 2 -1 up with a double from Matthew Simpson. The irrepressible Guy Mathieson added a third from a short corner with an unstoppable shot. Then came ten minutes of madness which enabled Bowden to grab two late goals.

Bolton Beavers 2 Bowden Beavers 0

Bolton scored two goals in the first three minutes through Dominic Bergin and David Flanagan and it looked like a big score was on the cards. But the Bowden defence put the early setback behind them and soaked up relentless pressure for the remainder of the game, with the keeper the busiest player on the pitch.