WILMSLOW Wolves overhauled Bowdon 59-14 to stay top of North One West.

They set their stall out in the very first play of the game as Bob MacCallum’s kick-off went into touch and from the lineout Wolves stole the Bowdon throw.

The ball zipped along their back line for right winger Sam Cutts to cut inside and race away to score.

This was just a harbinger of what was to come.

Throughout, the pace of Wolves’ game was always a good notch above their Bowdon opponents.

The ball did not always stick but there was always the threat that the Bowdon defence could be broken.

In contrast, Bowdon just didn’t have that kind of cutting edge, despite a good half hour spell either side of half time.

Wilmslow’s second score came on the quarter hour from a penalty lineout just inside Bowdon’s 22.

Alex Hewitt made a clean catch and the pack gathered round to mount an unstoppable drive, which ended with number six Jack Masters touching down.

Wolves were now beginning to turn the screw as they consistently stretched the Bowdon defence.

Three tries then came along in the space of eight minutes.

Scrum-half Sean Street took a quick short penalty, catching everybody unaware except James Coulthurst who took the pass to score as easy a try as he ever will.

Wilmslow were then awarded a scrum on halfway from the restart and incisive running and handling led to Street taking an inside pass for the first of his three scores.

An acrobatic take by Conor McMurdock at the next restart was a prelude to another bout of multiphase play, which saw Jamie Kingdon cross unopposed for the fifth try. MacCallum converted the lot for 35-0.

There was now a Bowdon revival.

They were unlucky to be penalised for holding on in a try-scoring position and a couple of minutes later Wolves were relieved for half time with their line still in tact.

Helped by a number of Wilmslow handling and kicking errors at the start of the second period, Bowdon began to put the phases together and were soon rewarded by a try from their right winger Ben Thomas.

It was cut and thrust by both teams for the whole of the third quarter until Wolves’ superior fitness enabled them to run away with it in the last 20 minutes.

A typical sniping run by Street earned him his second try, captain Robert Taylor then touched down after Ollie Lee had snaffled a loose lineout ball from a Bowdon throw and in the closing minutes against a tiring Bowdon side Street got his third and Kingdon chased a little grubber to touch down for the final score.

In between, Bowdon had got their second try when the Wolves, trying to run everything at that stage, knocked on in front of their own posts.

On the adjoining pitch, the Vikings, Wilmslow’s second string completed a good weekend for the club by seeing off Helsby 67-0 to stay at the top of Intermediate League Two South.