North Wales Crusaders were triumphant in their first ever game as they beat Leigh East 34-12.
This was a fantastic win for the club considering the small amount of preparation time head coach Clive Griffiths and his team had.
On the day it was Billy Sheen pulling all of the strings for the away side, as he ran in a hat-trick of tries in what was a tremendous performance.
The home side had their share of the play, but never looked like contesting Crusaders for the victory.
It was Crusaders who started the strongest and they crossed over for the first try after just three minutes.
They were gifted strong field position by Leigh, following a poor kick up field and Lee Hudson provided North Wales Crusaders’ first ever try as a club, dummying his way through the home defence to touch down.
The home side could have replied just minutes later, as on the back of a sloppy Crusaders penalty, a smart grubber kick from Adam Holland set up his team-mates perfectly, but they couldn’t find that all important touch to convert.
Leigh were given plenty of field position in a five minute period which they dominated, due to the visitors relatively poor discipline, but they stood strong in defence to hold out the home side.
Andy Moulsdale and Sheen exchanged passes to split the Leigh defence and set up some good field position for the visitors, but Danny Hulme squandered a chance to increase his side’s lead as he failed to collect a pass from Hudson and knocked on with the line beckoning.
That was soon forgotten though, as Hulme set up Sheen for his first try of the night and Crusaders’ second.
Jono Smith converted for the second time to made the score 12-0.
Some excellent defence from Crusaders once again kept the home side out. Gavin Hunter sent Chris Penn down the wing, who then chipped in-field looking to set up his supporting team-mates, only for superb Massam to cut out the play.
Once again, these promising attacks counted for nothing as Crusaders added their third try of the night.
On the back of two penalties, captain Moulsdale made it onto the score sheet with an easy try.
Indeed, Crusaders could have increased their lead even further if it wasn’t for Massam being held up just short of the line.
Leigh improved in the second half, but it was the Crusaders who scored the first try.
Massam decided to take the ball himself and was too strong for several Leigh defenders, as he scored what was a brilliant solo effort.
Smith missed his first conversion of the night and the score remained at 22-0.
The home side gave themselves a glimmer of hope as they scored their first try of the night on 50 minutes.
Holland followed up his own kick and as Hulme fumbled the ball, it fell straight into his hands and he grounded. Kerrod Seames converting the try.
But all the hard work counted for nothing, as a knock on straight from kick off gifted Crusaders a fantastic chance and they took it, Sheen scoring his second, dummying his way through the defence once again.
And Sheen completed his hat-trick after an hour, kicker Smith running at the Leigh defence and offloading to Sheen.
Leigh East added a consolation, but also, what was arguably the best try of the night.
Adrian Dootson broke the line with his blistering pace and the supporting Martin Keavney went over, Seames converting.
Crusaders second trial match will be against Rochdale Hornets at The Racecourse Stadium on Sunday, (2.30pm).
Original opponents Warrington Wizards have pulled out due to injuries and with Wrexham out of the FA Cup, The Racecourse is now available to host the fixture.
- Michael Witt missed London Broncos’ 44-22 defeat to Catalan Dragons through visa problems.
Witt, who has joined the London club from Crusaders, is still waiting for clearance from the UK Border Agency.
St Helens’ marked the opening of their new Langtree Park home with a 42-24 victory over Widnes, for whom ex-Crusader half-back Rhys Hanbury scored.
Another former Crusader, Tony Martin, was also on the scoresheet as Hull lost 36-18 to Hull KR, while Huddersfield Giants beat a young Wigan Warriors side 30-18 and Bradford Bulls overcame Dewsbury Rams 42-16.