Leigh East 12 North Wales Crusaders 34
http://www.crusadersrfl.com/article.php?id=6896
North Wales Crusaders were triumphant in their first game as the newly formed club, as they beat Leigh East 34-12.
This was a fantastic win for the club considering the small amount of preparation time Clive Griffiths and his team had.
On the day it was Billy Sheen who was pulling all of the strings for the away side, as he ran in a hat-trick of tries in what was a tremendous performance. The home side had their share of the play, but never looked like contesting North Wales Crusaders for the victory.
It was North Wales Crusaders who started the strongest out of the sides as they crossed over for the first try after just three minutes. They were gifted strong field position by Leigh, following a poor kick up field, which landed just shy of their own 40-meter mark. Lee Hudson provided North Wales Crusaders' first ever try as a club, as he dummied his way past several of the home sides defence to touch down.
The home side could have replied just minutes later though, as on the back of a sloppy Crusaders penalty, a smart grubber kick from Adam Holland set up his team-mates perfectly, but they couldn't find that all important touch to convert. Leigh were also given plenty of further field position in a five minute period which they dominated, due to the visitors relatively poor discipline, but they stood strong in defence to hold out the home side.
Adam Moulsdale and Billy Sheen exchanged passes to split the Leigh defence and set up some good field position for the visitors, but Danny Hulme squandered a chance to increase his sides lead. He failed to collect a pass from Lee Hudson and knocked on with the line beckoning. That was soon forgotten though, as he set up Sheen for his first try of the night and Crusaders' second. Jono Smith converted for the second time and made the score 0-12.
Some excellent defence from Crusaders once again kept the home side out. Gavin Hunter sent Chris Penn down the wing, who then chipped infield looking to set up his supporting team-mates, only for superb Massam to cut out the play. Once again, these promising attacks counted for nothing, as Crusaders added their third of the night. On the back of two penalties, captain Andy Moulsdale made it onto the score sheet with an easy score. They could have increased the lead even further if it wasn't for Massam being held up just short of the line. We entered the break at 18-0 to North Wales Crusaders.
Leigh improved in the second half, but it was North Wales Crusaders who scored the first try. Massam, who seemed to be offloading to the wing, decided to take the ball himself and was too strong for several Leigh defenders, as he scored what was a brilliant solo effort. Smith missed his first conversion of the night and the score stayed at 0-22 to the visitors.
The home side gave themselves a glimpse of hope though; as they scored their first try of the night on 50 minutes. Adam Holland followed up his own kick and that paid off, as Hulme's mistake fell straight into his hands and he grounded untouched. Seames later converted the try. All the hard work was counted for nothing, as a knock on straight from the kick off gifted Crusaders a fantastic chance and they took it, as Sheen scored his second, dummying his way through the defence once again.
Sheen scored his hat-trick try after an hour, as kicker Jono Smith ran at the Leigh defence and offloaded to Sheen for the try. Leigh East added what could only be described as a consolation, but also, what was arguably the best try of the night. Adrian Dootson broke the line with his blistering pace and the supporting Martin Keavney was on hand to finish the job. Seames converted, with him finishing the game with a conversion rate at one hundred per cent.
Both sides had chances afterwards, but none were converted as North Wales Crusaders sealed their first victory as a club. The supporters were certainly delighted to see a Wrexham based rugby league team back in action, never mind such an impressive performance.
LEIGH EAST
1. Mark Kay
2. Simon Raynard
3. Gavin Hunter
4. Barry Clarke
5. Chris Penn
6. Adam Holland
7. Kerrod Seames
8. Paul Rafferty
9. Adrian Dootson
10. Ryan O'Toole
11. Connor Partington
12. Brad Hargreaves
13. Stephen Grundy
14. Saf Jama
15. Greg Evans
16. Lee Rowley
17. Stephen Ormerther
18. James Noon
19. Connor Johnson
20. Martin Keavney
NORTH WALES CRUSADERS
1. Danny Hulme
2. Chris Kinsey
3. Tommy Johnson
4. Rob Massam
5. Kriss Wilkes
6. Andy Moulsdale
7. Billy Sheen
8. Owain Brown
9. Lee Hudson
10. Jonny Walker
11. David Hoctor
12. Anthony Morrison
13. Jono Smith
14. Sam Broadbent
15. Andy Oakden
16. Jordan Gibson
17. Leon Brenon
18. Chris Tyrer
19. Carl Leach
20. Mark Harmon
21. Iwan Brown
22. Chris Lunt
Referee: D Sharpe
