By Zippy
February 12 2007

Review of the action as the Celtic Crusaders lost by 56 points to 6 against Widnes Vikings in the first game of the Northern Rail Cup. For details read on.

Crusaders 6 Widnes 56

From the official website http://www.crusadersrl.com/

Celtic Crusaders were disappointed but not downhearted after crashing 56-6 to Super League promotion hopefuls Widnes Vikings in their first Northern Rail Cup group match in a snow-hit South Wales on Friday night.

Crusaders’ Operations Manager Gerald McCarthy said: “It’s no disgrace losing to a top side like Widnes. They’re one of the favourites to win promotion to Super League this year so they were always going to give us a good game. The lads knew they were in a match tonight but we’ll have an even bigger test against Brisbane Broncos on Thursday night.”

It was only down to the hard work of the Celtic Crusaders staff that the game went on in the first place. At mid-day it looked like the game was going to be postponed after heavy snow fell throughout the area. But at 1pm, the snow stopped falling and the ground staff were on hand to clear the pitch.

McCarthy adds: “We had to work hard to keep the game on. We knew there were a lot of fans travelling down from Widnes and we didn’t want to disappoint them. I’d like to thank all the volunteers who helped to clear the pitch. I’m sure all the travelling Widnes fans are equally as grateful.”

A highly respectable 452 fans witnessed the clash which was good considering all the valleys roads were closed off because of heavy snowfall and half of the planned Widnes away support reportedly failed to make it to the stadium because of the bad weather that had hit half of the country.

Those who managed to wrestle their way through the drifts to brave the freezing conditions saw a mistake-ridden first half thanks to the slippery field. Dennis Moran could have scored a couple of times in the first 20 minutes but knocked on in each instance.

Widnes came close on a few occasions as the Super League contenders began to dominate. Lee Doran was tackled over his own line, Andy Kane knocked on when he was close while Scott Grix, who ended up with a hat-trick of tries anyway, could have scored earlier in his debut for the club but failed to latch onto a grubber kick.

But on 18 minutes, last season’s record points scorer for the Vikings, Mick Nanyn completed a passing move by grounding in the corner, converting his own try.

Mark Smith set up Scott Grix to go under for the Vikings on 26 minutes to increase the visitor’s lead while Bob Beswick followed suit five minutes later. Nanyn converted both.

Crusaders did fight for their first half chances but the Vikings’ defence was far too strong as their NL1 status showed. Tony Duggan, Luke Young and Jace Van Dijk all shone for the Crusaders as did Mark Dalle Cort – one of eight debutants in the Crusaders side - who made a couple of crucial tackles while the home side could have had a try back just before half-time but Van Dijk’s trademark grubber was picked up by Damien Blanch.

Moran increased the Vikings lead just after half-time with Nanyn converting while a lengthy run from Blanch set up Mark Smith.

Damien Quinn was denied a try back for the Crusaders soon after. He looked to have scored but was pulled back for a forward pass while Duggan was also stopped in his tracks.

But from the play-the-ball, Richard Johnston finished off a fine passing move to get the home side on the board and Quinn kicked the tricky conversion.

Grix restored the balance on 61 minutes following Toa Kohe-Love’s 60 metre run for the try of the match. Moran repeated this with a similar run minutes later with Nanyn keeping up his 100% kicking record.

Kohe-Love continued with the rout as he scored on 69 minutes while Crusaders missed on opportunity to get a try back when no-one was available to latch onto Paul Ballard’s hopeful pass.

Blanch brought the half-century up for Widnes by scoring in the 76th and Nanyn failed to add the extras for the first time this evening, while Grix completed his hat-trick with a try on the hooter. Nanyn stepped up to take the final kick of the game but Moran beat him to the ball and had a pot at goal for prosperity… and missed.

Vikings’ coach Steve McCormack was happy with his side’s performance commenting: “We prepared well yesterday and despite the change in our plans today because of the weather, the players gave a fully professional performance. I’m also full of admiration for the way the fans have battled down here and they deserve so much credit.”

CRUSADERS
Tony Duggan
Richard Johnston
Mark Dalle Cort
Anthony Blackwood
Paul Ballard
Luke Young
Jace Van Dijk
Josh Cale
Neil Budworth
Gareth Dean
Neale Wyatt
Darren Mapp
Damien Quinn
Subs (all used)
Rob Toshack
Dean Fitzgerald
Jamie I’Anson
Hywel Davies

Tries: Johnston (56)

Goals: Quinn 1/1

WIDNES VIKINGS
1. Scott Grix
2. Damien Blanch
3. Toe Khoe-Love
4. Mick Nanyn
5. Gavin Dodd
6. Dennis Moran
7. Andy Kane
8. Mick Cassidy
9. Mark Smith
10. Andy Bracek
11. Lee Doran
12. Paul Noone
13. Bob Beswick
Subs:
14. Ian Webster
15. Oliver Wilkes
16. Jordan James
17. Ben Harrison

Tries: Nanyn (18), Grix (26, 61, 80), Beswick (31), Moran (44, 64), Smith (50), Kohe-Love (69), Blanch (76)

Goals: Nanyn 8/9, Moran 0/1

Gamebreaker: Dennis Moran’s early second half try opened the floodgates for the visitors.

Gamestar: Bob Beswick who wrapped up a fine performance with a try.

Half-time: 0-18

Attendance: 452

Men of the Match: Crusaders – Budworth, Vikings - Beswick

Penalty Count: 5-10

Scoring Sequence: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 0-24, 0-30, 6-30, 6-36, 6-42, 6-48, 6-52, 6-56

Weather: Cold and dry but the pitch was wet.

Match Rating: 3/5