NORTH WALES CRUSADERS 14 MIDLANDS HURRICANES 4
IAN GOLDEN, Stadiwm CSM, Sunday
NORTH WALES remain top of the table after an old-school bruiser of a match in which they deservedly overcame their nearest challengers.
The high penalty count against Midlands certainly cost them, although they stood firm when a man down for ten minutes in the second half, but it was the solid defence of Crusaders which earned them victory.
It was very nip and tuck for the first five minutes or so, with both sides trying not to make any errors and remaining hopeful that they could break through.
Hurricanes came close. Lloyd Roby dropped the ball from a high kick and although he protested that it went backwards, the referee gave a knock-on. From the resulting set, Aiden Roden was near to scoring, but was stopped short of the line.
It took a penalty to provide the field position for Midlands to break the deadlock, with the try coming on 16 minutes.
From the second tackle, a quick pass from Roden set up Jon Luke Kirby to dive over. Matty Chrimes sliced the conversion attempt wide.
North Wales hit back five minutes later. Joe Baldwin did well to fight off a few Midlands defenders to ground. Jamie Dallimore made no mistake with the kick.
Midlands had the opportunity to regain the lead just before the half-hour mark but Sully Medforth’s pass, aiming for Matty Hanley, was a bit too high and flew into touch.
As the match approached half-time, North Wales were also struggling to break through, and it had started to frustrate them. Following a dropped ball, Roby went in late on Medforth after he’d collected possession, giving away a penalty.
Midlands almost scored from that. Hanley looked to collect a high Medforth chip inside the goal area, but his catch wasn’t clean and the chance was lost.
So after an intense and highly-competitive first half, it was one try each at the break, with just Dallimore’s goal separating the sides.
North Wales extended their lead five minutes into the second half. From the final tackle of a set, Roby picked a nicely-slipped pass following Jordy Gibson’s chip and happily ran home. Dallimore converted well.
Midlands were further disadvantaged after Tom Wilkinson put a high shot on Gibson, being sent to the bin for his troubles. They cleared up the resulting set, 20 metres from goal, but the visitors kept giving away penalties.
Following the next infringement, North Wales nearly scored again. Gibson kicked a short grubber for Patrick Ah Van to latch onto, but he was beaten to the ball and the best the home side got was a goal-line drop-out, this taken after another stop for an injury, a frequent occurrence in this sometime stop-start match.
Midlands just about survived having a player down. In the final chance when it was 13 versus twelve, the crowd thought Chris Barratt had got to the line, but he was just short of scoring.
The next time North Wales won a penalty in a scoring position, Dallimore easily kicked it for a 14-4 lead with a little over ten minutes left.
Midlands nearly got a try back. Danny Barcoe made the metres, one of the longest runs of the game. Wilkinson was held, then Todd Horner looked to cause trouble with a chip, but it only led to a drop-out.
Both sides had a few bursts in the final few minutes as they looked for scores, but nothing was getting through.
GAMESTAR: While it was a big game for the forwards, North Wales halfback Jamie Dallimore muscled in throughout and kicked well too.
GAMEBREAKER: Kieran Taylor’s catch from Midlands fullback Horner’s chip when there was around ten minutes remaining. It was a crucial moment which prevented a try in the visitors’ last big chance to score.
MATCHFACTS
CRUSADERS
1 Lloyd Roby
2 Jack Holmes
3 Kieran Taylor
5 Patrick Ah Van
21 Ollie Brookes
22 Jamie Dallimore
7 Jordy Gibson
8 Jack Houghton
14 Joe Baldwin
10 Chris Barratt
12 Cole Oakley
18 Liam Cooper
13 Olly Davies
Subs (all used)
19 Josh Eaves
15 Shaun Costello
32 Ant Walker
23 Paddy Jones
Tries: Baldwin (21), Roby (45)
Goals: Dallimore 3/3
HURRICANES
1 Todd Horner
24 Matty Hanley
4 Ross Oakes
3 Ryan Johnson
2 Matty Chrimes
21 Sully Medforth
7 Callum McLelland
8 Jon Luke Kirby
14 Aiden Roden
20 Elliot Morris
11 Tom Wilkinson
15 Aaron Willis
13 Mikey Wood
Subs (all used)
9 Danny Barcoe
18 Zeus Silk
19 Marcus Green
– Liam Kirk
Tries: Kirby (16)
Goals: Chrimes 0/1
Sin bin: Wilkinson (50) – high tackle
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 6-4; 12-4, 14-4
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Crusaders: Jamie Dallimore; Hurricanes: Danny Barcoe
Penalty count: 9-2
Half-time: 6-4
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte
Attendance: 400