Match Report: North Wales Crusaders

A beautiful day was in store, and it really did feel like Summer rugby was upon us with the Ice Cream van on show at the Alexander Stadium. The visiting North Wales Team would be looking to get their season up and running as they were still looking for their first win of the 2023 campaign. The Hurricanes had a strong squad out with new man Adam Brook making his debut at half back and the ever-present Hayden Freeman on the wing playing his record breaking 107th game for the club, surpassing Chris Barratt (now of North Wales Crusaders). A truly tremendous achievement.

Freeman’s fairy tale story looked like it was to be thwarted however as, once again, the visitors got off to the better start as the Hurricanes came out cold. An early Crusaders try following a Hurricane error was added to with a full-length interception try and a penalty, this left the home side 0-14 down very early on. The Hurricanes did rally and enjoyed long spells of pressure on the Crusader line however their defence was resolute and stood firm against the waves of attack. The were equally as clinical in attack as they were assured in defence with them converting almost all their opportunities in to points and taking in a convincing 0-30 lead at half time.

The Hurricanes rallied however, the all too familiar story, they had left themselves too much of a mountain to climb. Increased completion percentages and better ruck speed allowed Windley to get more space and punish the visitors with breaks of his own along with creation of space for others to exploit. Tries in the second half for Hill, Bailey Dawson and Hallett resulted in the Canes winning the second half 14-12 but the damage was done by the visiting Crusaders in the first stanza. Big Red man of the match was given to Jack Dawson. On a day where there were few stand outs for the Canes, Daws went about his business in the way he always does, tackle after tackle with carry after carry, a real rock in the middle of Hurricanes attack and defence.

After a tough afternoon the disappointment was written all over the Canes’ faces. We will dust ourselves off and get back to work on Tuesday as we build towards a tough couple of games against Oldham and Doncaster in successive weeks at the Alexander Stadium. We hope to see you all there.