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Crusaders take the Shield
Jase Grant MBE20 Aug 2017 - 09:48
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Final glory seals a fantastic season for Crusaders Open Age.
On Saturday Crusaders Open Age, sponsored by Koko Kabana Sports Bar, put a cap on their North East Rugby League campaign, by winning the Shield Final in a great contest against Gateshead Storm A.
Storm A too, have had a season to be proud of, sometimes struggling for numbers but still turning out teams despite having to prioritise their support to their outstanding National Conference team. On this occasion they were allowed to reinforce the other way around and that was always going to lead to a pulsating contest.
The instruction from coaches Jason Grant and Simon Priestley was to remain tight and play within our "100%'s," whilst we shook off the obvious nerves. It would take around 15 minutes for the nerves to truly settle in the Crusaders camp during which time Storm laid siege to the Crusaders left hand edge and nudged themselves into a 6-0 lead.
As the nerves settled Crusaders percentage game started to pay off as they returned the favour, hitting Storms scrum line and middles with increased confidence and aggression.
Before the half, seasoned veteran, Don Payne, used some great footwork on the right hand scrum line to get clear of the defence and post try. Thanks to the sublime kicking of stand off Ricky Lee, Crusaders went in at half time 24-12 to the better.
The message at half time was that nothing was won, and Crusaders must remain with their 100%'s. That message was carried out almost faultlessly by Crusaders and for the next 20 minutes they refused to cough up the ball. When close to the Storm line Crusaders varied there game which saw tries produced from "having a dig" on the 5th and last, but also by arguably the best play of the match when the ball moved out 3 players, to loose forward Jared Poole, who put a great grubber through for Thunder U16's player George Robinson to collect and score a try from.
At 60 minutes the game was firmly in the hands of Crusaders at 38 - 12, but Storm were never going to lie down. They started to twist the game away from Crusaders and found space regularly just outside of the C defender. With 5 minutes to go Storm had work the score back to 38 - 26. The message to Crusaders was to stop looking for the big hit and just complete the tackle, this worked and the remaining 5 minutes was ground out as stalemate between the two sides.
At the final whistle Crusaders were clearly elated especially having come so close the year before, only for Whitley Bay Barbarians to take the glory.
Crusaders would like to thank our sponsors Koko Kabana Sports Bar for their support, on our return to Catterick to celebrate in style, the champagne was on ice and a wee while later this was followed by a few cheeky Jaeger Bombs! Thanks very much to Andrea and the staff.
Storm A too, have had a season to be proud of, sometimes struggling for numbers but still turning out teams despite having to prioritise their support to their outstanding National Conference team. On this occasion they were allowed to reinforce the other way around and that was always going to lead to a pulsating contest.
The instruction from coaches Jason Grant and Simon Priestley was to remain tight and play within our "100%'s," whilst we shook off the obvious nerves. It would take around 15 minutes for the nerves to truly settle in the Crusaders camp during which time Storm laid siege to the Crusaders left hand edge and nudged themselves into a 6-0 lead.
As the nerves settled Crusaders percentage game started to pay off as they returned the favour, hitting Storms scrum line and middles with increased confidence and aggression.
Before the half, seasoned veteran, Don Payne, used some great footwork on the right hand scrum line to get clear of the defence and post try. Thanks to the sublime kicking of stand off Ricky Lee, Crusaders went in at half time 24-12 to the better.
The message at half time was that nothing was won, and Crusaders must remain with their 100%'s. That message was carried out almost faultlessly by Crusaders and for the next 20 minutes they refused to cough up the ball. When close to the Storm line Crusaders varied there game which saw tries produced from "having a dig" on the 5th and last, but also by arguably the best play of the match when the ball moved out 3 players, to loose forward Jared Poole, who put a great grubber through for Thunder U16's player George Robinson to collect and score a try from.
At 60 minutes the game was firmly in the hands of Crusaders at 38 - 12, but Storm were never going to lie down. They started to twist the game away from Crusaders and found space regularly just outside of the C defender. With 5 minutes to go Storm had work the score back to 38 - 26. The message to Crusaders was to stop looking for the big hit and just complete the tackle, this worked and the remaining 5 minutes was ground out as stalemate between the two sides.
At the final whistle Crusaders were clearly elated especially having come so close the year before, only for Whitley Bay Barbarians to take the glory.
Crusaders would like to thank our sponsors Koko Kabana Sports Bar for their support, on our return to Catterick to celebrate in style, the champagne was on ice and a wee while later this was followed by a few cheeky Jaeger Bombs! Thanks very much to Andrea and the staff.
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