OLDHAM ROUGHYEDS 18 CELTIC CRUSADERS 32

By Ian Golden at Boundary Park - http://www.crusadersrl.com

It may be an overused cliché but Celtic Crusaders’ 32-18 win over Oldham Roughyeds really was a game of two halves.

The Crusaders’ were six points down at half-time and not playing at their best. Oldham’s defence was resolute with substitute Matty Brooks and Welsh international Rob Roberts especially shining and Crusaders didn’t do themselves any favours as indiscipline cost them, giving away four penalties, all of which Scottish international Gareth Morton had no problems in converting.

But in the second half, the title favourites came out all guns blazing, scoring within a minute, knocking up 26 points and denying Oldham a valuable bonus point. This win means that Crusaders need to beat Gateshead Thunder in their final game of the season on Sunday week to secure the league title and sole automatic promotion place.

Crusaders’ National League Two attendance record was also broken thanks to Oldham introducing free admission for this game – believed to be only the second time in British professional rugby league that such a venture has taken place.

Crusaders’ operations manager Gerald McCarthy said: “I’m ecstatic. Roll on Gateshead next week, and well done to Oldham for breaking our attendance record. I think the top four or five attendances in National League Two this season all involve Celtic Crusaders so it’s good to see that we are an attraction to fans all over the country.”

The home side pressed hard from the start. An early Oldham attack was successfully stopped thanks to a good catch by Mark Dalle Cort, while following a well-taken penalty that went 50 metres into touch, Anthony Blackwood did well to push Byron Ford into touch after fluid passing by Morton and Ian Gordon.

Crusaders also failed to ground on ten minutes, Blackwood being pushed out as he was near to the line following fine work from Josh Hannay and Neil Budworth.

But it was Morton that gave the home side a 2-0 lead with a 45-metre penalty kick after Crusaders were penalised for a high tackle.

And the Scotsman added to his personal and team tally on 14 minutes when he went over in the corner, but he missed the resulting conversion and the score remained at 6-0.

They could have had another try save for a James Coyle knock-on as he was close to the line, but they settled for another penalty by Morton on 25 minutes following an infringement at the play-the-ball.

Crusaders failed to capitalise on another attack soon after. Damien Quinn and Neale Wyatt did well with the groundwork but Hannay’s pass went astray and was picked up by Lucas Onyango.

Crusaders struck back on 33 minutes. Rob Toshack slipped the ball to Paul Ballard who stretched for the line. Jace Van Dijk successfully kicked the tricky conversion.

But Oldham went in with a 12-6 half-time lead following two more successful Morton penalty kicks from close range.

Crusaders made the best possible start to the second half scoring in under a minute with Ballard scoring his second try of the evening. Van Dijk’s conversion levelled things up before the half-back gave the visitors the lead for the first time in the game after kicking a 35-metre penalty.

It was 18-12 three minutes later after Dalle Cort grabbed a loose ball and touched down.

Crusaders received a blow when Gareth Dean was sinbinned for holding down and preventing the restart.

Oldham almost scored straight away after Crusaders failed to clear the ball from a grubber kick and Neil Roden dived but failed to control the ball as he was touching down while Blackwood did well to stop a further Oldham score after using his height to catch Coyle’s potentially dangerous kick.

Just before Dean returned to the field, Van Dijk put the score on 20-12 with a penalty following a high tackle while he was successful again from the kicking tee following a further infringement to give his side a ten-point lead.

And Tony Duggan wrapped up the game for the Crusaders on 75 minutes with a 90-metre run to the line weaving through almost the entire Oldham side. It was the full-back’s 37th try of the season and one of his best, equalling his 2006 tally.

Dalle Cort ran in his second try from kick-off to rub salt into Roughyeds wounds and Van Dijk kicked his sixth goal of the night.

But Oldham had the last say with Byron Ford running home and Morton converting.

Crusaders’ coach John Dixon said: “I thought we were really strong in the first half but Oldham were terrific. We were our own worst enemies in that half, scoring a nice try but conceding four penalties. We had to be stronger and more disciplined in the second half and we hoped that if we stuck to what we knew, we’d get a result in the second half and that’s how it turned out. Full credit to the players, they stuck to their guns and I thought they played really well.”

Oldham Roughyeds: Ian Gordon, Byron Ford, Gareth Morton, Alex Wilkinson, Lucas Onyango, Adam Hughes, Neil Roden, James Coyle, Warren Stephens, Andy Crabtree, Richard Merville, Ian Hodson, Rob Roberts, Geno Costin. Subs: Chris Baines, Tony Tonks, Said Tamghart, Matty Brooks,

Tries: Morton (14), Ford (79)
Goals: Morton 5/6

Celtic Crusaders: Tony Duggan, Paul Ballard, Rob Toshack, Mark Dalle Cort, Anthony Blackwood, Josh Hannay, Jace Van Dijk, Phil Cushion, Neil Budworth, Gareth Dean, Neale Wyatt, Darren Mapp, Damien Quinn. Subs: Grant Epton, Jamie I’Anson, Terry Martin, Chris Beasley.
Tries: Ballard (33, 41), Dalle Cort (49, 77), Duggan (75)
Goals: Van Dijk 6/8

Half-time: 12-6
Referee: Gareth Hewer (Whitehaven)
Attendance: 4,327

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