MATCH REPORT: NORTH WALES CRUSADERS 20-14 MIDLANDS HURRICANES

The Canes fall agonisingly short in a war of attrition at Colwyn Bay

After a record-breaking victory over Newcastle Thunder last Sunday, Mark Dunning's men faced a trip to Stadiwm CSM to face a North Wales Crusaders team that the Canes last beat in 2017.

The hosts had a 2023 to remember, first going on a substantial losing streak before going on to snatch the last play-off spot and making it all the way to the play-off final (where they ultimately lost to Doncaster). They started their 2024 season with a convincing 16-40 away victory against Cornwall at the Choughs' temporary home of Truro college, and would no doubt have gone into Sunday's game keen to go into next week two from two.

The Canes started sluggishly and Crusaders took full advantage, with some sustained pressure on the Midlands try-line allowing veteran winger Patrick Ah Van to wrestle his way over the try-line and plonk the ball down before Jason Bass took him into touch (4-0). Owain Abel was unable to add the extras from out wide. This seemed to wake up the Canes, who spent the next seven to eight minutes forcing North Wales to defend their line rigorously before a couple of unfortunate events, with Brad Clavering hobbling off injured and Danny Barcoe appearing to have scored from dummy-half before being deemed to have knocked-on by the referee.

Shortly after forcing Patrick Ah Van into touch, the Hurricanes equalised on twenty minutes as Matty Welham weaved his way through the Crusaders defence to score his second try in as many games (4-4). David Hewitt was unable to convert from the right edge. The visitors couldn’t maintain that momentum however, as we failed to deal with the resulting restart and Ryan Ellis eventually forced his way over for North Wales's second try of the afternoon just right of the sticks after a goal-line drop out (8-4). Abel added the extras with a considerably easier conversion than before (10-4).

The momentum shifted once again in favour of the Canes as some impressive attack led Danny Barcoe to leap over the try line again, but this too was ruled out as the Canes were deemed to have interfered with the Crusaders' defender in the ruck. A couple of minutes later Brad Billsborough came back to haunts his former team as he sold a sublime dummy to slip through the defence to score right of the posts (10-8). Hewitt made no mistake from the kicking tee (10-10).

The Canes were very unlucky not to enter the sheds ahead, as Todd Horner looked certain to score but Owain Abel's head somehow dislodged the ball as Todd was looking to drop over the try-line.

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

The second half was a much scrappier affair for both sides, with the first ten minutes showing the sides displaying more frustration than flair on the pitch. That said, it was the hosts who went ahead as another seasoned veteran (and their player-coach) in Carl Forster forced his way through the Canes defence to score close to the sticks (14-10). Abel had no trouble adding the conversion (16-10).

What turned out to be the match-winning try followed some 13 minutes later, but not before David Hewitt came within an inch of the Crusaders try-line after an impressive dummy on the last tackle. After coming so close to equalising, it was former Cane Dan Coates who cemented the victory for the home side as he broke the line and passed inwards to Patrick Ah Van for his second of the game (20-10). There was no conversion from Abel, so the Hurricanes had just over 15 minutes to score two converted tries for the win.

The Canes tried valiantly to get themselves back in the game, but nothing seemed to work as multiple sets in the Crusaders half resulted in knock-ons or just falling short of adding to the scoresheet. With a couple of minutes to go, Max Kirkbright cemented his return to the squad as he sprinted into space to score in the left corner (20-14) but Hewitt was unable to convert from out wide.

With seconds to go and nothing less than a converted try being necessary to secure a draw, the Canes went for a Hail Mary. Passing out wide, a cheeky chip over the Crusaders' defence was collected by Ross Oakes who punted the ball diagonally for Matty Welham to chase. Sadly, Patrick Ah Van secured the win as he just about beat Welham to the ball and gratefully took a tackle just before the final hooter sounded.

A disappointing result only because we were always in with a chance, but a game of fine margins and a massive improvement on the 62-24 loss the Hurricanes suffered in North Wales last season. The Hurricanes have a week off now due to the odd number of teams in the league, but Mark Dunning's men will no doubt be looking ahead to our home game vs Hunslet (that will be played at the Olympic Legacy Park, the home of our Dual Registration partners in Sheffield Eagles).     

Man of the Match:

Marcus Green (sponsored by J&B Travel)

Attendance:

707

Scoring sequence:

4-0, 4-4, 8-4, 10-4, 10-8, 10-10, 14-10, 16-10, 20-10 and 20-14.