BOLTON Hockey Club’s women’s first team have clinched the North West Division Two South title with a game to spare.

They travelled to second-placed Prescot knowing they needed a single point against their title rivals to secure their top spot, the championship and promotion - and a 1-1 draw secured that aim.

However, it seemed Prescot had not read the script and within two minutes of the start they had their first penalty corner.

The straight strike found a lucky deflection and painfully looped into the Bolton net.

Bolton struggled through the heat, finding it hard to hold their form as the temperature and pressure rose.

And their passing was not as accurate as normal with Prescot quick to pounce on loose passes to intercept and overload the Bolton defence.

However, Kirsten Price, Alex Roe and Becky Varney held firm with Nyemh Johnson commanding her defensive line with precision.

Bolton saw more of the ball than Prescot but could not find the killer shot to find the back of the net, with the home keeper quick to close down any hint of opportunity and keep the score at 1-0 going into the break.

After rallying at half time, a more composed Bolton came out for the second half, looking much sharper and with the urgency needed to fight for their championship.

Fi Clarke moved from defence into an unfamiliar central midfield position alongside Emily Wilkes, where she did well providing athleticism at the back and creating opportunities in attack.

The hope of a leveller was beginning to fade as time ticked by, before Chloe Frost made a decisive run into the Prescot D and found a foot in the circle winning Bolton their fourth penalty corner of the match.

The drag from the top of the D was saved by the chest of the Prescot goalkeeper, bouncing into the path of Angelie Chitre. She composed herself and swept the ball home on her reverse stick to bring Bolton back into the game.

Prescot opened a floodgate of attacks as they searched for the win they desperately needed to take the title for themselves, however Bolton absorbed everything that was thrown at them.

Roe rounded off her player-of-the-match performance with a spectacular overhead save from a strike that was heading to the top corner.

With 10 minutes to go Prescot removed their goalkeeper going to 11 outfield players to maximise the pressure as they looked for the winning goal.

But Bolton battled with everything they had left to defend the constant Prescott attacks.

Every single Bolton player lay it all on the pitch as they dug deep into the reserves to fight for the point that would give them the league title.

As the final whistle crept closer, the pressure was released when Bolton made strong tackle after strong tackle before eventually sweeping the ball clear to allow some breathing space.

The final minute was packed full of last-ditch chances as Prescot went on the final attack.

However, Johnson was more than equal to the shot before winning Bolton the free hit.

With that final decision Bolton knew all they needed to do was keep the ball for the last few seconds.

The match ended with a flurry of emotion as the Bolton players realised they had given all they could and got the point that was needed to be crowned champions.

The women’s second team won a thriller 4-3 at Didsbury Northern fifths in North West Women’s Four East.

It was the final game of the season for Bolton against a Didsbury side sitting third in the table.

The visitors were focused and determined before they started despite only having 11 players.

A reorganisation of the team, saw Hannah Payne move into the sweeper role, Caitlyn Walker to left-back and Becky Denton to right midfield. Katie Bent took on the high forward role.

Didsbury had first push back and quickly moved the ball around, but were soon tackled by Lucy Pickles playing centre midfield and turning over the ball, taking it into Didsbury’s D, to a waiting Emily Hawkrigg to find a foot in the circle.

The ball was pushed out to Payne to the top of the D, and while skipper Viv Lake was unable to find the net, she managed to get another penalty corner.

Payne pushed out to forward Bent, before a quick slip to Lake as it swept across the D, but with the Didsbury keeper not allowing Bolton to score.

End-to-end movement of the ball from both teams on the attack continued as Didsbury managed to trickle the ball past the Bolton defence to score and make it 1-0 at half time.
Lake went into midfield, leaving Bent and Hawkrigg up front, and Denton, Pickles and Erin Turner in midfield.

With fresher legs, Didsbury were able to take advantage and turned over the defence of Jo Tanner, Caitlyn Walker and Nat Boal. They scored two goals in quick succession to increase their lead.

But Bolton got a new lease of life when Payne was able to chip the ball nicely past the keeper, followed quickly by Hawkrigg turning the keeper and Pickles also finding the back of the net.

With five minutes to go, the rejuvenated Bolton had another penalty corner awarded with player-of-the-match Payne pushing out to Lake who trickled the ball over all the defenders’ sticks and past the keeper to put them ahead.

Bolton maintained possession after the restart and with time winding down kept their heads to seal victory. It leaves them fifth in the table after completing their matches.