STEVE Eccleshare praised his hardworking Old Boltonians side as the Lancashire Amateur League Premier Division leaders claimed victory against Tottington United on Saturday.

Despite the 4-0 scoreline at Tower Street, the first-team manager admitted that his defending champions were made to grind out the result against their Bury rivals.

“It was not nearly as comfortable as the scoreline suggests,” said Eccleshare.

“It was hard work because Tottington set themselves up to win. They really wanted it.

“I think the turning point — and probably what helped us win it — was when our keeper Dean Hardy parried a header over the bar from point-blank range after 20 minutes.

“We changed gear and stepped up our performance after that.”

Eccleshare praised seventh-placed opponents Tottington, describing them as a good footballing side.

“It is always an exciting game against Totty,” he said.

“For us to beat them 4-0 is fantastic and a great compliment.

“At the start of the game I said to the lads ‘Do not match them – we need to better them’ and they did.

“The lads looked absolutely amazing. I had never seen them play like that.”

The opening 20 minutes of the game proved pretty equal, with both sides having two decent chances to open the scoring.

But it was Old Bolts who eventually took the lead, on 37 minutes, when Matt McClellan set up a fine pass for David Warburton and he drove the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

While Totty’s heads were down, Old Bolts went in search of a second goal and were rewarded within five minutes.

Sean Rushton intercepted a pass to set McClellan through for a one-on-one chance with Tottington keeper Danny Holland. And McClellan drove his effort into the top right-hand corner to make it 2-0 at the break.

Totty tried to get back into the game early in the second half but Old Bolts weathered the storm before scoring the third goal, on 65 minutes. Tom Whittaker dropped a ball over the top for Rushton to run on to. He drew the keeper in another one-on-one chance and slotted the ball home.

Old Bolts sealed the victory on 80 minutes when Darren Dalton set up McClellan for his second inside the box.

With just one defeat from their 14 games so far this season, the table-toppers are two points clear of second-placed Failsworth Dynamos.

And with third-placed Little Lever slipping to a 2-0 defeat at home to Old Bolts’ next opponents Rochdale St Clements on Saturday, the title run-in is shaping up to be a two-horse race.

Fourteen points now separate the top two from the chasing pack and Eccleshare believes the spirit his side showed to gain the victory puts them in good stead for an assault on this year’s title.

However, he is determined not to put too much pressure on his team to win the league for a second successive season.

The boss said: “The one thing we keep saying is that we are not defending a title – that went last May. We are looking to win one.

“We have forgotten the fact we won it last year. The lads are just hungry to win another trophy.”

“I do not like to see Little Lever losing because you want to see all the Bolton teams up there. But selfishly we want to get away from the pack.”

Horwich St Mary’s Victoria’s Premier Division trip to promotion-chasing Mostonians was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

STEVE Eccleshare praised his hardworking Old Boltonians side as the Premier League leaders claimed victory against Tottington United on Saturday.

Despite the 4-0 scoreline at Tower Street, the first team manager admits the Lancashire Amateur League defending champions were made to grind out the result against their local Bury rivals.

“It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the scoreline suggests,” said Eccleshare.

“It was hard work because Tottington set themselves up to win. They really wanted it.

“I think the turning point – and probably what helped us win it – was when our keeper Dean Hardy parried a header over the bar from point blank range after 20 minutes.

“We changed gear and stepped up our performance after that.”

Eccleshare praised seventh-placed opponents Tottington United describing them as a “good footballing side”.

“It is always an exciting game against Totty,” he said.

“For us to beat them 4-0 is fantastic and a great complement.

“I said to the lads at the start of the game, don’t match them we need to better them and they did.

“They looked absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen them play like that.”

The opening 20 minutes of the game was pretty equal with both sides having two decent chances to open the scoring.

But it was Old Bolts who eventually took the lead on 37 minutes when Mat McClellan set up a fine pass for David Warburton and he drove the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

While Totty’s heads were down Old Bolts went in search of a second goal and were rewarded within five minutes.

Sean Rushton intercepted a pass to set McClellan through for a one-on-one chance with Tottington keeper Danny Holland and he drove his effort into the top right-hand corner to make it 2-0 at the break.

Totty tried to get back into the game early in the second half but Old Bolts weathered the storm before scoring the third goal on 65 minutes. Tom Whittaker dropped a ball over the top for Rushton to run on to. He drew the keeper in another one-on-one chance and slotted the ball home.

Old Bolts sealed the victory on 80 minutes when Darren Dalton set up McClelland for his second inside the box.

With just one defeat from their 14 games so far this season, the table-toppers are two points clear of second-placed Failsworth Dynamos.

And with third-placed Little Lever slipping to a 2-0 defeat at home to Rochdale St Clements on Saturday, the title run-in is shaping up to be a two-horse race with 14 points now separating the top two from the chasing pack.

Eccleshare believes the spirit his Old Bolts side showed to gain the victory puts them in good stead for an assault on this year’s title, but he is determined not to put too much pressure on his team to win the league for a second successive year.

“The one thing we keep saying is that we are not defending a title - that went last May. We are looking to win one,” he said.

“We’ve forgotten the fact we won it last year.

“The lads are just hungry to win another trophy.”

“I don’t like to see Little Lever losing because you want to see all the Bolton teams up there, but selfishly we want to get away from the pack.”

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Horwich St Mary’s Victoria’s trip to promotion-chasing Mostonians was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.