For the neutral fan this game had everything, good handling in damp conditions and quite a bit of ill-discipline which at times the officials found it hard to control and some excellent defence.
The home side were under pressure straight from the kick off as a good kick by Crusaders forced the Lions to knock on and from the resulting scrum and on the last tackle Jono Smith slid over under the posts for the opening try and Tommy Johnson made no mistake from in front. The Lions tried to fight back up the slope and both Richie Hawkyard and Chris Atkin had chances but were frustrated by good defence near the line. Smith then had another good chance for Crusaders after they had forced a scrum near the line but he couldn’t hold the pass about a metre out and the Lions got the ball back and moved it swiftly to the left across their own line only for Shaun Robinson to be hit by a high shot from Stephen Wild and after a long debate by the officials he was despatched to the sin bin.
Andy Ball made a good break up the left for the Lions but his pass to the supporting Hawkyard went behind him and into touch and the Stuart Rearden made a clear break only to be brought back for a knock on in the build-up. Both sides were involved in a huge brawl on twenty-one minutes as tempers boiled over and Lions Jimmy Rowland and Cruasders Smith were sent to the sin bin and the incident was placed on report. Crusaders increased their lead two minutes later when Johnson slotted over a penalty goal when the Lions didn’t play the ball properly.
Robinson got the Lions on the scoreboard just before the half hour when Stuart Littler sent a short kick towards the right corner and the winger won the race to score in the corner but Atkin could not add the conversion from the touchline, but the visitors hit back a few minutes later when a floated kick to the right corner saw Scott Turner rise high and come down to score but Johnson was off target with this one and the Crusaders held an eight point lead at the break.
The Lions started on top in the early minutes of the second half and they were put on the attack when Crusaders half back Jamie Dallimore was penalised for punching in the tackle and the Lions put pressure on the line and scored their second try when Littler found a gap to score on the right but Rowland could not add the conversion from near the touchline. A couple of minutes later the Lions levelled the scores when a good passing movement down the left saw Hawkyard break clear down the wing to score on the left but again Rowland failed with the conversion.
Atkin put the Lions ahead on fifty-six minutes when Jordan James was high tackled right in front of the posts and the Lions full back made no mistake with the kick. The Lions had the better of the attacks in the second half getting closer to the line than the Crusaders and they lost yet another player to the sin-bin on sixty-six minutes when Atkin went to ground to collect a low kick and Karl Ashall appeared to kick out at the player when he was on the ground.
Johnson levelled the scores for the visitors with six minutes left when he kicked another penalty goal for obstruction by Littler on Gene Ormsby. The Lions spent the last couple of minutes camped on the Crusaders line but couldn’t find a way to win the game.
Teams :
Lions :-
7. Chris Atkin
2. Shaun Robinson
3. Stuart Littler
22. Chris Rothwell
1. Richie Hawkyard
6. Ben White
16. Jimmy Rowland
8. Mike Morrison
9. Andy Ackers
24. Jordan James
11. Grant Beecham
21. Andy Ball
31. Rob Lever
Subs ( All Used)
18. Aaron Lloyd
13. Tommy Gallagher
10. Ben Austin
12. Darren Hawkyard
Tries : Robinson (29), Littler (44), R.Hawkyard (47)
Goals : Atkin ½
Rowland 0/2
Crusaders :-
1.Tommy Johnson
5. Rob Massam
3. Christiaan Roets
17. Stuart Rearden
2. Scott Turner
29. Declan Patten
7. Jamie Dallimore
8. Jonny Walker
14. Karl Ashall
16. Joe Burke
11. Jono Smith
12. Stephen Wild
13. Gary Middlehurst
Subs (All Used)
9. Callum Wright
30. Gene Ormsby
22. Alex Thompson
10.Ryan Duffy
Tries : Smith (2) , Turner (33)
Goals : Johnson ¾
Men of Match
Lions : Mike Morrison
Crusaders : Jonny Walker
Referee : John Roberts
ATT : 561
Pens : 12-5
H-T : 4-12
Prog score : 0-6,0-8,4-8,4-12,8-12,12-12,14-12,14-14
Game Star : Mike Morrison – The Lions prop took his side forward in difficult conditions and was part of a great defence too.
Gamebreaker : The Johnson penalty near the end as before that it looked like a home victory was on the cards.
Coaches comments :
John Duffy :
It was a tough start and I thought they had the better of the first half but we were very strong in the second and we knew what to expect on the pitch and I thought we handled it very well. They are a good side and are going to be up there at the end but I thought we matched them well and got something out of it in the end and it could have been more.
Anthony Murray :
It was a game of two halves and we played well and handled the conditions in the first half and scored a couple of tries and they did the same in the second half and I thought they were a bit smarter and we had to hang in to get something out of the game. It’s going to be a tight league this season.
