Crosby St Mary's Rugby League

James Smith led out a strong Crosby St Mary's side in front of a large crowd on a warm day in Crosby after the previous two fixtures had beenm rained off. The tension could be seen throughout the opening ten minutes with big shots coming from both sides.

It was the Burnley oufit who eventually borke the deadlock. After a takle from Mick McCarthy and Garrath Bell held up the Burnley prop over the line the following play saw the Burnley Scrum half throw a dummy and sneak over the line.

Crosby were quick to hit back though as the forwards gained territory and got the Crosby outfit near the Burnley line. Captain James smith opted to pass instead of kick on the last tackle and played through hooker James Foy in the corner.

Burnley were quick to put the momentum in their favour and two quick tries. With the half time hooter soon approaching a bit of urgency was called into play by the Crosby forwards. With Danny Coyne and Stuart Robinson driving forward, it allowed space for James Foy to scoot over from Dummy half, converted by Sean Taylor. Burnley took the half lead of 16-12.

Crosby started the second half stronger and got their brekthrough when James Smith took the ball to the Burnley lime and played through Man of the match Sean Taylor who stetched out to score in the corner and take the scores level.

Burnley respnded quickly however as they collected their own short kick off. and got to within 10 yards of the Crosby line. They were able to spin the ball wide and take back a 4 point lead.

Crosby were not going to lie down and forces their way back into contention. Stong running from Tom Corder and Nick Hayes got Crosby into Burnley's red zone. A quick play the ball from Hayes allowed got John Baybut free and he side stepped the onrushing defender to break through the line and score just right of the posts.

Crosby kept up the pressure and cam close to increasing the lead when James Smith grubber kicked the ball behind the line for Chris Jones to touch down, he was howerver just beaten to the ball by the Burnley defender.

The pressure was maintained, and a strong defensive set forced Burnley to kick the ball from their own half. Sean Taylor collected the kick a a strong hand off and step allowed Taylor to break the line and sprint the length of the field to score under the posts.

Complacency and an increased penalty count allowed Burnley back into the game. Burnley then pressurised the Crosby line and allowed them 2 more scores to take a lead of 32-28 with 8 minutes remaining.

Crosby went in search of anoth score and came close twice when James Armstrong was caught just short and also Jay Corder raced down the side of the filed and with the tryline beckoning the ball slipped from his grasp.

The resulting scrum forced Burnley to drive up from their own line and a ferocious tackle from centre John Hughes knocked the ball loose to give Crosby the possession once more. This allowed a quick play and Tom Tinsley played in debutant Ross Green through a gap to draw the scores level. Tom Tinsley was left with a difficult kick 5 metres in from the touchline. Large cheers followed as Tinsley kicked the ball just inside the far post to give Crosby a 34-32 lead.

Crosby'd defence managed to hold strong for the final 3 minutes and the final whistle blew to see all Crosby supporters charge the field in celebration as Crosby St Mary's RL gained their first ever win in only their third game.

Line up: J Corder, Armstrong, Hughes, Taylor, T Corder, Tinsley, J Smith (c), Bell, Baybut, O'Reilly, McCarthy, Atkinson, Robinson

Replacements (all used): Foy, A Smith, Jones, Gerrard, Coyne, Green, Buckley

Tries: Foy 2, Taylor 2, Baybut, Green
Kicks: Taylor (3/3), Tinsley (2/3)