MATCH REPORT: MIDLANDS HURRICANES 18 – 10 NORTH WALES CRUSADERS

Canes battle through the storm to topple Crusaders

Just one week ago the Canes put Newcastle to the sword with a dominant 66-4 win at The Alex, and any superstitious fans could be forgiven for thinking Thunder were exacting their revenge through the weather as torrential rain lashed The Alex in the build-up to Sunday's clash. With the ground appearing to struggle to deal with the heavy rain there were initial concerns that the game may be called off following a pitch inspection, however a bumper crowd at The Alex were pleased to see that the game could go ahead as dark clouds were replaced with clear skies and sunshine just ahead of a delayed 2:30pm kick-off.

Within the first six minutes both sides had an attempted try chalked off by the referee. Just four minutes in it appeared that veteran winger Patrick Ah Van had grounded a Dan Coates grubber, only for the referee to confer with his touch-judge and conclude the ball had been grounded on the dead-ball line. In the very next set, Matty Welham seemed to have broken the deadlock by putting the ball down following a spilled contested catch, however the referee deemed this to have stemmed from a Canes knock-on. With a little over 12 minutes gone Dan Coates was presented with another opportunity to open the scoring, however his attempted penalty from 30 metres out struck the post and bounced back in play.

The next five minutes saw fortunes go against the Canes, with Lewis Peachey coming off injured following a tackle and Ryan Johnson requiring treatment shortly thereafter (but being able to continue). This was followed up by Crusaders scoring the first try of the afternoon as a short pass from Ben Lane allowed Patrick Ah Van to run at full tilt and cut through the Canes defence to score (0-4). Lane duly converted Ah Van's effort from out wide (0-6). Going behind appeared to kick the Canes into another gear, with Dave Hewitt kicking a beautiful 40/20 to give us some much needed possession on the Crusaders line.

With fewer than 15 minutes to go, Vice-Captain Jon-Luke Kirby ran an impressive carry to break through the Crusaders line and run circa 30 metres before being dragged down approximately 10 metres out. With the Crusaders defence in disarray, Dave Hewitt exploited a wide gap to dive over to the right of the posts for his first try in a Canes shirt (4-6). Hewitt then drew us level with a relatively simple conversion (6-6). The scores were level until a couple of minutes before half-time when a Dan Coates grubber into the left corner appeared dealt with by returning Captain Matty Welham - only for the previously torrid conditions to come back to haunt us as Matty slipped and spilled the ball – with ex-Cane Matt Reid gleefully sliding over to put the ball down in the corner (6-10). Ben Lane almost added the extras from out wide, however his effort was the second attempt to strike the posts and bounce out.

The half-time hooter shortly followed and the teams went into the changing rooms to cool down (and dry off) – a fairly equal forty minutes with the teams only separated by a stroke of bad luck.

Half-time: Midlands Hurricanes 6 – 10 North Wales Crusaders

With the second half underway, it only took 60 seconds for the Canes to threaten the Crusaders try-line as Jason Bass collected a pass out wide and stretched out to plonk the ball down in the right corner with Crusaders defenders dragging him into touch. After a short conversation with his touch-judge, the referee chalked off Bass' effort on the basis he had been taken into touch before grounding. It only took four minutes for us to go one further as a Hewitt grubber was hastily batted out behind the Crusaders dead-ball line for a goal-line drop out, with the resulting set giving Callum McLelland a chance to throw a beautiful looping cut-out pass to loanee Matty Chrimes who took full advantage of the wet surface to slide over from 10 metres out to score our second of the afternoon (10-10). Knowing a successful conversion would put us ahead, Dave Hewitt's perfectly placed kick from touch sailed through the middle of the posts (12-10).

With the Canes failing to deal with the kick-restart, Canes fans seemed apprehensive that Crusaders could quickly regain the lead. However, a well-drilled defensive effort from the home side snuffed out the North Wales attack and the Canes once again took control of the game. In what can only be described as a moment of individual opportunism, Ryan Johnson stole the ball one on one during the returning carry and bounded 35 metres to slam the ball in the corner despite Patrick Ah Van's best efforts to drag him into touch (16-10). Hewitt was unable to kick us into a two-score lead as his effort from the right edge was wide of the sticks.

With approximately 25 minutes to go, Crusaders cranked their attack up a gear but were unable to convert that pressure into points. A valiant defensive effort saw the Canes bundle Ah Van into touch to prevent him scoring his second of the afternoon, and despite conceding two goal-line drop-outs the home side were able to comfortably defend against the visitors. With just over five minutes left Matty Welham made a strong run before being clocked round the chin on the half-way line to earn us a penalty, and Dave Hewitt confidently called for the kicking tee to give us an eight-point lead. Dave's kick certainly had the distance but agonisingly bounced off the right post and back into play, meaning Crusaders had an opportunity to equalise.  

With less than 60 seconds left, Crusaders' desperation to level the scores saw them concede another penalty for a ball steal just 30 metres out from their line and right in front of the posts. This time, Dave Hewitt had no issues putting the points on the board to seal a fifth win of the season (18-10).

As with the win against Workington in Cumbria, this was a dogged victory in somewhat torrid conditions against a determined North Wales Crusaders outfit. A spirited effort saw us complete extremely well in weather conditions that would often lead to plenty of knock-ons and we earned two well deserved points. Sunday's efforts mean we enter the half-way point of the 2024 Betfred League 1 season in fifth place with five wins from ten games, with four of the five defeats being by 10 or fewer points. Our fantastic Supporters Club – who were Sunday's match-ball sponsor for this game – nominated Dave Hewitt as the Man of the Match for his thoroughly professional performance (and being responsible for 10 of our 18 points on the day). Well done, Chewy!

Attendance:

527

Man of the Match:

David Hewitt (sponsored by Utiliko)

Scoring sequence:

0-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-6, 6-10, 10-10, 12-10, 16-10, and 18-10.