By Zippy
June 18 2006

Review of the action from the Brewery Field today where the Celtic Crusaders defeated Sheffield Eagles 28 - 12, for details read on.

By Ian Golden

http://www.sportingwales.com/artman/publish/article_8405.shtml

CELTIC CRUSADERS 28 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 12

Celtic Crusaders moved up to second place in LHF Healthplan National League Two following a hard fought 28-12 win in front of a 931-strong crowd at the Brewery Field.

I knew that things would be a bit different when I turned into the Brewery Field car park at 1pm. Two hours before the game and I had just taken the last parking space outside the ground. This would have been unheard of a couple of weeks ago.

It’s amazing what a new regime can do for a club. Since Chris O’Callaghan departed the Crusaders, the new management straight away introduced reduced admission prices for adults, free entry for children, buses from the valleys and posters advertising the match all around South Wales. All these factors, along with a big win against league leaders Swinton the week before, contributed to the Crusaders’ highest attendance of the season. Some fans even missed the kick-off as queues to the sole entry point to the ground were going around the corner as many of the crowd were still piling in.

The game itself was tough for the Crusaders as they were up against it from the start as their powerful opponents attacked from the off.

The match was low scoring until near to the end but still wasn’t short of action, and the competitiveness and intensity of the game is certain to entice the many newcomers back for more.

Sheffield dominated the initial period of the game but their first handful of attempts were thwarted by the strong Crusaders defence.

The Eagles’ attacking was rewarded in the 11th minute when James Walker slid in from Gavin Brown’s kick. Brown converted.

There was no more scoring until the 36th minute despite strong attacks from both sides. Eagles’ Sean Dickinson was sinbinned for a late tackle on the quarter hour but Crusaders failed to take advantage of the extra man.

In fact in was Sheffield who kept up the pressure. Martyn Ostler picked up a loose ball and ran 50 metres winning a scrum on the Crusaders 20 metre line but once again they were kept out.

Eagles kept attacking. Craig Poucher’s pass went into touch near to the line while Waisale Sovatabua looked to have kicked a 40-20 but it just went short.

They looked to have had a second try on the half hour but James Walker’s pass to Alistair McLarren was forward.

It took this scare to get the Crusaders back into the game and from then they on were the stronger team. Tony Duggan had an exhillerating 40 metre run to the line and it took both Worrincy and McLarren to take him down. Matt Jobson had a go from the next tackle while Shawn Van Rensburg was tackled short before Jobson knocked on.

Duggan then became the hero at both ends, making a try-saving tackle on Ford following his 50 metre run before being set up by Luke Young to go over for Crusaders’ equalising try on 36 minutes.

Luke Young scored an almost identical try just after half-time with Quinn converting as he did the first one.

Carl de Chenu almost scored a third but pressure from Poucher caused him to hit the flag when diving for the line.

De Chenu then became try stopper as he forced James Walker into touch as he dived for the line just before Young fed former Eagle Aled James for a dream try against the club he left two weeks ago.

Eagles pulled a try back on 72 minutes with Sovatabua went in under the sticks with Poucher converting to produce a grandstand finish

The Gamebreaker came a few minutes later when Sovatabua knocked on giving a scrum to Crusaders which resulted in a try under the sticks for debutant Gareth Dean on 77 minutes.

Paul Morgan wrapped this up just on the hooter as he ran in for another try from kick-off. Quinn converted both to give the Crusaders an excellent 28-12 win.

Crusaders’ new Operations Manager Gerald McCarthy was pleased with both the attendance and the rugby. McCarthy said: “The hard work that all the staff have done this week going to schools promoting the game really helped with the attendance and the quality of our rugby in this game will increase the attendance further in a couple of weeks. People are starting to know that we’re a quality side and we’re looking forward to Swinton at home in two weeks time where we have a longer lead up time to market our excellent product even further.”

Finally, on a personal level, I was flattered to see “Ian Golden’s Laptop Army” t-shirts worn around the ground. A club must be on the up if even the press officer has his own fan club. I’m blushing!

CELTIC CRUSADERS

1.Tony Duggan
2.Carl de Chenu
3.Aled James
4.Damien Quinn
5.Richard Johnson
6.Luke Young
7.Jace Van Dijk
8.Hywel Davies
9.Michael Ryan
10.Phil Cushion
11.Ryan Barton
12.Matt Jobson
13.Dean Fitzgerald
Subs : (all used)
14.Gareth Dean
15.Geraint Davies
16.Shawn Van Rensberg
17.Paul Morgan

Tries: Duggan (36), Young (42), James (62), Dean (77), Morgan (79)
Goals: Quinn 4/5


SHEFFIELD EAGLES

1 Craig Poucher
2 Alistair McLarren
3 James Ford
4 James Walker
5 Rob Worrincy
6 Brendon Lindsay
7 Gavin Brown
8 Jack Howieson
9 Paul Pickering
10 Martyn Ostler
11 Craig Brown
12 Andy Smith
13 Sean Dickinson
Subs:
14 Jon Presley
15 Tom Buckenham
16 Andy Hay
17 Waisale Sovatabua

Tries: Walker (11), Sovatabua (72)
Goals: Brown 1/1, Poucher 1/1
Sinbinned: Dickinson (15 mins, late tackle)

Attendance: 931
Half-time: 6-6
Referee: Ian Smith (Oldham)
Penalty Count: 7-5
Men of the Match: Crusaders – Young, Eagles - Walker
Scoring Sequence: 0-6, 6-6, 12-6, 16-6, 16-12, 22-12, 28-12

Gamestar: A tough decision but Luke Young just clinched it.
Gamebreaker: Gareth Dean’s try in the 77th minute. It was that close.

Weather: Cloudy
Match Rating: 4/5

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
1	Dewsbury	11	9	0	2	326	189	18
2	Celtic Crusaders	11	7	1	3	414	226	15
3	Featherstone	11	7	1	3	278	251	15
4	Sheffield	11	7	0	4	355	242	14
5	Swinton	11	7	0	4	334	253	14
6	Barrow	11	7	0	4	291	239	14
7	Gateshead	11	6	0	5	293	264	12
8	Hunslet	11	4	1	6	223	248	9
9	Workington	10	4	0	6	224	322	8
10	Blackpool	11	2	1	8	196	375	5
11	Keighley	11	1	1	9	208	339	3
12	London Skolars	10	1	1	8	190	384	3