Posted on Monday, 23 June 2008 02:33PM by

The signs looked promising before the game. Dominic Maloney was back at prop, and Chris Charles was continuing his partnership with Taran Wildey in the second row, with Ryan Smith taking over at hooker. Right from the start it was clear that the wind was going to play a big part, and so it proved. Crusaders had it at their backs for the first half and made the most of it, dominating field position for long spells and taking the lead with a penalty from scrum half Mark Lennon after 12 minutes. Four minutes later they extended their lead with a try, winger Paul Ballard collecting the ball to race over when a high kick swirled away from Rams full back Tom Colleran in the gusty wind. Lennon converted and Crusaders were 8-0 up. All the decisions were going one way, I reckon it was 23 minutes before we got our first penalty and were able to exert some real pressure. It didn’t last long, and back at the other end, Lennon slotted over yet another penalty. To be honest, both sides were struggling with the conditions, littering the game with a string of dropped passes. For all that, the Rams were putting up a brave resistance, and I was thinking that if we could hold them there, we’d push them all the way in the second half. Around 33 minutes, Lennon slotted over another penalty, and a couple of minutes later, stand off Damien Quinn dummied his way through a static defence to put Lennon over for their second try. Again the scrum half added the conversion; decent kicking given the conditions. With time running out, the Rams got on the board at last. Liam Finn seemed held in front of the posts, but managed to get the ball away and quick hands sent it left giving Chris Langley room to go over on the left. With the score 18-4 at half time, and the wind at our backs, the scene was set for a close game; even more so when a fumble from Crusaders early in the second half gifted the Rams a try. Finn’s kick through was gathered up for Chris Hall to go over, and when Walker added the conversion the score was 18-10 with almost all the second half left. It was as close as we were to get. I’m not sure why, but we seemed to run out of ideas and enthusiasm about then. Maybe some of this could be put down to a lack of match fitness. After all this was our first game for almost three weeks, but some of the problems that have plagued us all season began to show. On the whole, our tackling was fair, at times it was positively awesome, but on occasion it was also woeful. When full back Tony Duggan scored Crusaders third try, you could almost sense the spirit drain away. When prop Jordan James powered over under the posts for their 4th try, goaled by Lennon, they stretched their lead to 28-10. A wonderful run from Austin Buchanan deserved more than it got, but moments such as this were all too rare in a disappointing second half. Even when referee Hicks awarded a penalty to Rams on the Crusader try line, Pat Walker’s tap and drive over was disallowed, and we were forced to take the kick again. Inevitably on a day like this, Crusaders had the last word Neil Budworth going through a dispirited defence to score their 5th try. Final score Dewsbury Rams 10 Celtic Crusaders 32. All in all, a disappointing performance, that has me looking nervously at NL2 next season. It won’t be any easier down there you know. Still, the Rams are MY side, and we’ll be there at Whitehaven next week, looking for miracles maybe, but isn’t that the way things have always been at Dewsbury? Teams :- Dewsbury Rams :- Tom Colleran; Bryn Powell; Chris Langley; Chris Hall; Austin Buchanan; Patrick Walker; Liam Finn; Aaron Trinder; Ryan Smith; Dominic Maloney; Taron Wildey; Chris Charles; Tere Glassie. Subs :- James Elston; Andy Bostock; Martin Robinson; Kane Epati. Celtic Crusaders:- Tony Duggan; Paul Ballard; Josh Hannay; Mark Dalle Cort; Anthony Blackwood; Damien Quinn; Mark Lennon; Jordan James; Ian Webster; Aaron Summers; Chris Beasley; Darren Mapp; Luke Dyer. Subs :- Neil Budworth; Ben Flower; Geraint Davies; David Tangata Toa. Referee :- Mr R. Hicks. Attendance 652. Man of the Match – Austin Buchanan. By Chris Osbaldeston Photos