photo by Ian Lovell

In their first ever Co-operative National League One match, Celtic Crusaders, in atrocious conditions, claimed a hard-fought 14-12 win over Dewsbury Rams.

The visitors took the lead on 13 minutes following a Patrick Walker penalty kick given for offside.

But three minutes later, the Crusaders scored the first try of the game when Josh Hannay brilliantly broke through the Rams’ pack to place the ball under the sticks. Mark Lennon converted.

Rams attempted to strike back. A fine chip from Dean Lawford was caught well on the goal-line by Tony Duggan.

But Crusaders extended their lead on 23 minutes following an excellent Paul Ballard run down the wing. He laid the ball off to Jace Van Dijk who eased his way through to score. Lennon did well to kick the tricky conversion.

Duggan made a blast for the line just before the interval but he was met with a solid Rams wall and the Welsh side went into the break with a 10-point lead.

The full-back made an attempt for the line early in the second half but was brought down by an unpenalised high tackle. However, Crusaders were given a penalty moments later for offside which Lennon successfully kicked.

Rams finally got over the line on 56 minutes following a fine move involving Andy Bostock and Liam Finn, the latter doing well to offload under pressure to full-back Mark Field who went over. Finn kicked the extras to put Rams to within a converted try.

Rams’ next effort was disallowed. Finn pounced on Josh Weeden’s grubber kick but the touchjudge claimed that Tony Duggan and Ian Webster just beat him to the ball.

However there was nothing wrong with their next try as Chris Langley scored in the corner but the potential equalising kick was missed.

Andy Bostock had the perfect opportunity to seal the game for the Rams but he fumbled the ball while close to the line while attempting to pick up an inviting Chris Langley kick.

Jordan James also looked to have had a perfectly good try disallowed when he went in near to the sticks; and with the conversion almost a certainty, that would have given the Crusaders an eight-point win.

Mark Dalle Cort was also close to scoring with a few minutes left but he was judged to have been held up over the line by a herd of Rams players.

The Crusaders have a short turn around before their next match as they travel to Sheffield Eagles on Monday (kick-off 3.15pm). The Crusaders have already beaten the Eagles home and away this

season in the Northern Rail Cup and will go to the Don Valley Stadium in a positive mood following this dramatic win.

“To come up against a side like Dewsbury and come away with a win is a good start for us. We dug in well and held out,” said Crusaders coach John Dixon. “It was a high quality game in wet conditions and I thought both sides played really well. Four tries scored which anyone would be happy with on a day like today and I thought both sides used the ball very well considering.”

Rams’ coach Andy Kelly, who was critical of his side last week, believes that they made progress in Wales.

“We deserved a bit more from the game,” said Kelly. “I was a little disappointed with the referee’s decision when we had a try disallowed in the right hand corner. It looked a legitimate try on the screen by the side of the field. It was a tough game, a lot of errors from both sides but due the conditions, a lot of acceptable errors.

“I’m immensely proud of the team, I thought their efforts were magnificent. We were 14-2 down and almost took the game. If we can always play with that level of commitment, then there’s good things to come for Dewsbury.”

CELTIC CRUSADERS
1. Tony Duggan
2. Paul Ballard
3. Josh Hannay
4. Mark Dalle Cort
5. Mark Lennon
6. Ian Webster
7. Jace Van Dijk
8. Jordan James
9. Neil Budworth
10. David Tangata-Toa
11. Chris Beasley
12. Darren Mapp
13. Damien Quinn
Subs:
14. Anthony Blackwood
15. Aaron Summers
16. Terry Martin
17. Gareth Dean
Tries: Hannay (16), Van Dijk (23)
Goals: Lennon 3/3

DEWSBURY RAMS
1.Mark Field
2. Kane Epati
3. Chris Langley
4. Andy Bostock
5. Austin Buchanan
6. Josh Weeden
24. Dean Lawford
8. Aaron Trinder
9. Liam Finn
10. Dominic Maloney
11. Tere Glassie
12. Alex Bretherton
13. Patrick Walker
Subs:
14. Luke Haigh
15. Martin Robinson
16. David Rourke
17. Joe Helme
Tries: Field (56), Langley (73)
Goals: Walker 1/1, Finn 1/2

Attendance: 1,618
Men of the Match:
Crusaders – Van Dijk, Rams - Finn
Half-time: 12-2
Referee: Mike Dawber (Wigan)
Penalties: 6-7
Scoring Sequence: 0-2, 6-2, 12-2, 14-4, 14-8, 14-12
Gamebreaker: The missed conversion from Finn that would have levelled the scores.
Gamestar: Jace Van Dijk who controlled the game from half-back.

article by Ian Golden
22 March 2008