NORTH WALES CRUSADERS 6 LEIGH LEOPARDS 60
DAVE PARKINSON, Stadiwm Eirias, Saturday

NORTH WALES gave a proud effort in front of a club-record crowd at Colwyn Bay, competing well with top Super League side Leigh for over an hour despite the final scoreline.

The hosts also gained the biggest cheer of the night when otherwise impressive fullback Bailey Hodgson threw an intercept for the Leopards and Greg Eden ran 80 metres to touch down after half an hour.

But a strong finish saw Leigh safely into round four, with the visitors scoring eleven tries in all.

Both sides took time to settle into rhythm with North Wales twice tackled into touch inside the Leigh ten, but it was the Leopards that were first on the scoreboard when a delayed pass from Robbie Mulhern saw Owen Trout go over the line for new Australian halfback Adam Cook to land the first of his seven goals.

Leigh’s second try came four minutes later when a good run from Frankie Halton was stopped five metres out and Edwin Ipape dived out of dummy-half.

Cook’s goal made it 0-12 before Jacob Alick-Wiencke’s deceptive footwork took him clear of Pat Moran for the PNG international to score his first Leopards try.

Then on 29 minutes came the champagne moment as former Super League star Eden picked off the pass and zipped downfield for Jordan Gibson to goal.

Leigh reasserted themselves before half-time when Lam looped from left to right, creating space for Josh Charnley to dive acrobatically into the corner. It went unconverted and Leigh led 6-22 at half-time.

Just six minutes into the second half Ipape scanned from dummy-half and zipped through some slack marker coverage to touchdown.

And the Leopards increased their advantage again on 53 minutes when Lam and Cook worked the ball right and Keanan Brand blasted through without a finger being laid on him.

It was now 6-34 and Crusaders held Leigh at bay until the 63rd minute, even enjoying some possession on the visitors’ line. But when Leigh got down the ground again with strong carries, a crash ball from Gareth O’Brien saw Halton go over the line.

The Leopards then produced their strong finish with four tries in the final ten minutes. The first of these came after Luke Forber twice fumbled Cook’s kick and the ball broke for Lachlan Lam to collect and touch down.

More sprightly passing brought Charnley a second try with O’Brien providing the last pass. Then virtually from the restart, Ipape broke away in midfield and Lam arrived at his shoulder to run the remaining 45 metres for his second try.

There was still just enough time before the end for the Leopards to claim their eleventh try as Andy Badrock showed tremendous footwork to beat a host of defenders on his way to the line and O’Brien kicked the conversion.

GAMESTAR: Despite throwing an interception, Bailey Hodgson made a heap of kick-return metres and was an eager ball carrier.

GAMEBREAKER: Leigh’s first try in the second half tipped the scales in the visitors favour.

MATCHFACTS

CRUSADERS
1 Lloyd Roby
23 Greg Eden
3 Jayden Hatton
4 Jake Spedding
5 Luke Forber
18 Junior Westwood
7 Jordan Gibson
16 Mark Ioane
9 Josh Eaves
10 Chris Barratt
11 Brad England
12 Cole Oakley
25 Danny Addy
Subs (all used)
14 Joe Baldwin
17 Ashton Robinson
8 Ant Walker
13 Pat Moran

Tries: Eden (29)
Goals: Gibson 1/1

LEOPARDS
18 Bailey Hodgson
19 Innes Senior (D)
3 Tesi Niu
2 Keanan Brand
5 Josh Charnley
6 Adam Cook (D)
7 Lachlan Lam
12 Owen Trout
9 Edwin Ipape
10 Robbie Mulhern
11 Frankie Halton
15 Jacob Alick-Wiencke (D)
22 Jack Hughes
Subs (all used)
26 Nathan Wilde
28 Ryan Brown (D)
23 Andy Badrock
21 Gareth O’Brien

Tries: Trout (11), Ipape (15, 46), Alick-Wiencke (23), Charnley (38, 74), Brand (53), Halton (63), Lam (70, 76), Badrock (80)
Goals: Cook 7/9, O’Brien 1/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 6-18, 6-22; 6-28, 6-34, 6-38, 6-44, 6-50, 6-54, 6-60

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Crusaders: Brad England; Leopards: Bailey Hodgson

Penalty count: 9-5
Half-time: 6-22
Referee: James Vella
Attendance: 1,899