photo by Ian Lovell

In the first of two meetings with Halifax in as many weekends, Celtic Crusaders, in front of yet another healthy Brewery Field crowd despite the atrocious weather conditions, drew first blood as they battled hard to seal an excellent 26-18 win over the division’s high flyers.

Ironically, due to the bonus point system, Halifax temporarily leapt over Salford at the top of the table, despite losing in Bridgend to a Crusaders side who put in arguably one of their best performances of the season so far.

The rain poured down almost right throughout the game but that didn’t stop both sides from putting on an excellent display of rugby league, the Crusaders especially, who stamped their authority on the game from the start, taking the lead in only the third minute.

The home side were awarded a scrum on Halifax’s 30 metre line, and from the resulting play, Damien Quinn ran through to score. Mark Lennon converted.

Josh Hannay was close to a second Crusaders try but was stopped short of the line.

Halifax, who were missing Welsh internationals Damien Gibson and Craig Kopczak, struck back with an Andy Smith try in the corner in the 14th minute following a period of intense pressure. Graham Holroyd failed to add the extras.

Crusaders extended their advantage with a Mark Lennon penalty given for holding down in the tackle but Halifax scored a penalty of their own moments later as Holroyd kicked an easy goal following a high tackle.

But the Welsh side scored twice in the last three minutes of the first half to go into the break with a 20-8 lead. The first try was following the tenth scrum of the first half and Aaron Summers brilliantly broke the Halifax back-line to set up Quinn.

Then from the first set after kick-off, Tony Duggan broke through the pack with one of his trademark runs to score under the sticks. Lennon converted both tries.

Crusaders were close to scoring soon after the interval. Jace Van Dijk kicked a grubber but Lee Greenwood got there first to save a certain try with Duggan stopped near to the line in the set following the goal-line drop-out.

The Yorkshire side were first on the board in the second half as following a penalty, Dave Larder forced his way over the line. Holroyd added the extras.

They added another with 14 minutes remaining when Welsh international Sean Penkywicz kicked a fine grubber for Smith to leap on. Holroyd’s kick put the Halifax to within two points to set up a dramatic finish.

However Crusaders sealed things after regaining possession straight from kick-off. Neil Budworth set up Duggan to break through once again to run half the length of the field. Lennon had an easy kick to give Crusaders their eight-point lead back.

The Crusaders travel to Halifax next Sunday in the first knockout round of the Northern Rail Cup and Crusaders coach John Dixon, who was naturally happy with his team’s performance, is looking forward to the rematch.

“We were pretty good today, the win was a fitting reward for our efforts,” he said. “To show that we can compete in this league, we had to put in a quality performance today. I was happy with the players today. We came up against a side who are one of the favourites to win this league and did a good job. We’ll see these blokes again next Sunday and I’m sure it’ll be another good contest.”

CELTIC CRUSADERS
1. Tony Duggan
2. Paul Ballard                   
3. Josh Hannay     
4. Mark Dalle Cort             
5. Mark Lennon                
6. Damien Quinn               
7. Jace Van Dijk                
8. Jordan James               
9. Neil Budworth   
10. David Tangata-Toa      
11. Terry Martin           
12. Darren Mapp         
13. Chris Beasley  
Subs:
14. Ian Webster    
15. Aaron Summers          
16. Neale Wyatt                
17. Gareth Dean   
Tries: Quinn (3, 37), Duggan (39, 68)
Goals: Lennon 5/5

HALIFAX RLFC
1. Shad Royston
2. Lee Greenwood
3. Jon Goddard
4. Michael Ratu
5. Andy Smith
6. Graham Holroyd
7. Sean Penkywicz
8. Paul Southern
9. Mick Govin
10. Dave Wrench
11. Dave Larder
12. Paul Smith
13. Miles Greenwood
Subs:
14. Janan Billings
15. Richard Varkulis
16. Dana Wilson
17. Frank Watene
Tries: A. Smith (14, 66), Larder (58)
Goals: Holroyd 3/4

Attendance: 1,003
Men of the Match:
Crusaders – Duggan
Halifax - Smith
Half-time: 20-8
Referee: Dave Merrick (Castleford)
Penalties: 5-8
Scoring Sequence: 6-0, 6-4, 8-4, 8-6, 14-6, 20-6, 20-12, 20-18, 26-18
Gamebreaker: Duggan’s second try on 68 minutes.
Gamestar: Tony Duggan for his terrific work rate and two tantalizing trademark tries.

Match Rating: 4/5
Weather: Torrential rain throughout

article by Ian Golden
30 March 2008