Crewe and Nantwich 1sts earned a fine bonus point 27-17 win over Vale Of Lune in front of big crowd at the Vagrants.
The hosts handed first team debuts to Luke Thomas and Sam Dennison with plenty of regular faces missing and squad rotation needed.
But it didn’t prevent Crewe from securing a good victory over a strong opposition.
From the kick off, Crewe failed to clear their own lines which allowed Vale to apply the pressure.
Fortunately for the hosts, some good defensive work lead to a penalty and Crewe finally found some field position.
Some good work from the backs created space for Logan Lynch to put debutant Thomas in for his first try, which was almost his first touch of the ball in first team rugby, to make it 5-0.
But again poor discipline from Crewe allowed the Vale number 10 to step up and knock over an easy three points to finish a tight first half on 5-3.
In the second half, with the wind against Vale, Crewe found themselves in their own 22 after a series of penalties with Vale powering over form short range for a try to make it 5-10.
Crewe had to score next and the scrum which had been on top all game really began to dominate.
After a series of scrums and forcing penalties, the Vale prop was sent to the sin bin.
The following scrum allowed the number 8 to dot down but credit goes to those in front of him. Lynch converted to give Crewe a 12-10 lead.
From another dominant scrum, Tom Manaton found himself in space with the ball and after a weaving run put Lynch in to score from range for 17-12.
More pressure from Crewe’s scrum led to further field position, this time Crewe finding themselves on the Vale 5.
A nice catch and drive against a bigger pack led to a penalty try and a 24-12 lead.
Vale stuck to their guns and after further penalties from Crewe in the loose, the visitors found themselves with a line out five metres out and scored their own push over try.
But the final moment of the day went to Lynch who slotted over another three-pointer in front of the sticks which brought Crewe outside of a one-score game and a 27-17 win.
The bonus point win secured five points as Crewe & Nantwich travel to local rivals Whitchurch next week.
Meanwhile, the 2nd team put in a fine performance against Northwich before losing 34-16 in a game that was much closer than the score line suggests.
The Women’s team opened their league season with a long away trip to Kendal Wasps who were convincing winners by 41-5.
There were plenty of positives in the performance to work on before the next match at home to Sheffield on Sunday.
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