photo by Ian Lovell

It was a night where everything went to plan for Celtic Crusaders. A club record crowd of 6,152, that was witnessed by many top RFL officials, couldn’t have done their Super League application any harm, while their performance on the pitch was once again hard-working as they opened up in the second half to beat Featherstone Rovers 28-18.

This crowd figure, among the highest in National League One this year, would have beaten all but two regular season crowds in the competition in 2007. There were also three times as many people there than at the Neath v Pontypridd top of the table rugby union Premiership game just down the road that was staged at the same time.

It was Crusaders’ fourth win in a row against their Yorkshire rivals (five if you count the Crusaders Colts win in Featherstone last month) as the two clubs opened Millennium Magic weekend in style.

Main match aside, it was a night for development in Wales with 22 schools sides from a 50-mile radius competing in a tag rugby league tournament before the Crusaders Featherstone match-up.

And don’t be surprised to see a “Crusade for Super League T-shirt” at a ground near you soon. The thousands of T-shirts that were printed and given away were snapped up by Crusaders, Featherstone and Super League fans alike with the amount of shirts being taken back to Featherstone as souvenirs a joy to see. A few Featherstone fans expressed disappointment after the match, not just at the result but the fact that they didn’t manage to bag one of these souvenirs.

Crusaders’ coach John Dixon was ecstatic about how the whole evening panned out.

“Today has done our Super League application no harm at all,” he said. “We put in a good performance and we attracted over 6,000 fans to witness it. It was great to see so many kids playing out on the field before our match. We’re building player pathways here at the Crusaders and these kids are the future of rugby league in Wales. Things are going really well here at Celtic Crusaders.

As stated, Crusaders had to work hard for their win as Rovers matched them for a lot of the game, especially in the first half.

The home side had an early chance to score when Damien Quinn ran and leapt for his own high chip, but he fumbled and it was safely picked up by Scott Wilson.

The visitors were first on the board. Stuart Dickens gave Rovers the lead with an eighth minute penalty following interference in the tackle.

But it was Crusaders who went over for the first try when Quinn set up Welsh international Jordan James to run the ball in under the sticks. Mark Lennon’s kick made the score 6-2.

Rovers levelled things straight away when Wayne McHugh slipped through the defence and rolled over the line. Stuart Dickens missed the conversion but made up for it moments later when he kicked his second penalty of the night.

A Mark Lennon penalty given for offside levelled things on 28 minutes but Rovers hit back again when following a scrum Paul Handforth stretched over the line to score. Dickens converted to give the away side a six-point lead.

But it was just a two-point gap for Rovers at the interval after Crusaders’ Anthony Blackwood dived on a grubber kick after the half-time hooter had sounded. Lennon’s conversion attempt went just wide of the left post.

Crusaders came out of the interval with more aggression and started well when Quinn latched onto the end of a typical

Jace Van Dijk grubber to score and Lennon converted to give them the lead for the first time in the game.

But Rovers struck back again when following a scrum, Gavin Swinson grounded to level the scores at 18-18.

Crusaders took the lead again on 54 minutes with a length of the field try that started with Josh Hannay picking up a McHugh grubber kick on his own 20 metre line. From the next play, Mark Dalle Cort made the metres, Damien Quinn was in support who palmed the ball to Tony Duggan giving him an easy run under the sticks. Lennon kicked to give them a six-point gap.

The Welsh side knew that a one-try cushion wouldn’t be enough and they chased for another score. Quinn, Hannay and Duggan were all close to scoring, Quinn attempting to score the Crusaders’ first ever drop goal but to no avail, and it took a second try from Welsh international Blackwood to seal things with five minutes remaining.

“We were loose in the first half,” admitted John Dixon, “But our determination got us the returns. It was a hard fought win. Featherstone dominated the first half with their possession and field positions so Anthony Blackwood’s try just before the interval was crucial to us. It gave us a lift and we capitalised on that in the second half.”

Rovers coach David Hobbs gave credit to the Welsh side. “We didn’t get too many opportunities in the second half,” he said. “We came out after half-time and lost the momentum and the game slid away from us. But I’m very pleased at the way the guys dug in there as it was a tough old game. We’re disappointed though, there are areas that we could have been better. Credit to Celtic, they moved the ball a lot more freely than we did.”

CRUSADERS
1. Tony Duggan
2. Mark Lennon
3. Josh Hannay
4. Mark Dalle Cort
5. Anthony Blackwood
6. Damien Quinn
7. Jace Van Dijk
8. Jordan James
9. Neil Budworth
10. Gareth Dean
11. Chris Beasley
12. Darren Mapp
13. Neale Wyatt
Subs:
14. Ian Webster
15. Aaron Summers
16. Jamie I’Anson
17. Luke Dyer
Tries: James (11), Blackwood (40, 75), Quinn (42), Duggan (54)
Goals: Lennon 4/5

FEATHERSTONE
1. Tommy Saxton
2. Waine Price
3. Andy Kirk
4. Wayne McHugh
5. Scott Wilson
6. Andy Kain
7. Paul Handforth
8. Tony Tonks
9. Joe McLocklan
10. Stuart Dickens
11. Jamie Field
12. Richard Blakeway
13. Tommy Haughey
Subs:
14. Gavin Swinson
15. Sean Hesketh
16. James Houston
17. Los Wildbore
Tries: McHugh (14), Handforth (34), Swinson (49)
Goals: Dickens 3/5

Referee: Robert Hicks (Oldham)
Attendance: 6,152
Men of the Match: Crusaders – Quinn, Rovers - Swinson
Penalties: 9-7
Scoring Sequence: 0-2, 6-2, 6-6, 6-8, 8-8, 8-14, 12-14, 18-14, 18-18
Half-time: 12-14
Gamestar: Welsh international Anthony Blackwood worked hard but an excellent performance from Damien Quinn inspired the result.
Gamebreaker: Blackwood’s try with five minutes to go gave Crusaders a 10-point gap that sealed the win
Weather: A very pleasant spring evening.
Match Rating: 4/5

article by Ian Golden
2 May 2008