Crewe & Nantwich 1sts push league leaders all way in narrow loss

Crewe & Nantwich 1sts produced a fine performance to give league leaders Old Halesonians a real scare in their own backyard.

The leaders, currently on a 12-game winning streak, had to rely on a dramatic late penalty try with Crewe down to 14 men.

The visitors were expecting a tough afternoon but with a couple of good performances under their belt since Christmas, the team were sniffing an upset.

Old Hales kicked off and with some poor defensive work, they opened the scoring in the first couple of minutes to go 7-0 up.

This seemed to wake Crewe up as after a slow start, they suddenly got going.

A penalty from Logan Lynch brought the scores to 7-3.

Then after some good kicking for field position and solid defence, Old Hales coughed the ball up around half-way.

This allowed Crewe to capitalise and after some determined carries, man of the match John Bowen-Davies got Crewe’s first try in the corner, barrelling his way over to take a 7-8 lead.

After some quick thinking from scrum half Tom Manaton, a tap and go 10m from his own line, eventually found him within 5m on the Old Hales line.

The ball was moved quickly wide for Jacob Aston O’Donnovan to touch down for his first of the afternoon, as the visitors moved 7-13 ahead.

Unfortunately with Crewe down to 14 men, Old Hales scored next.

After a poor kick chase the Old Hales 8 exploited the space weaving through defenders before releasing the centre to score beneath the sticks, for a 14-13 lead.

Crewe again found themselves with the ball in the Old Hales half, Jacob found Adam Deegan in space, who broke the line before putting Jacob in to score beneath the sticks, 14-20.

Old Hales ended the half with a set piece move, scoring in the corner to lead going into half time 21-20.

The second half started with a strong defensive effort from both sides, with Crewe struggling to get any real field position.

However, a couple of Logan penalties meant Crewe led with a minute to go at 21-26.

Old Hales then kicked for the corner and with Crewe down to 14 men, the referee gave a penalty try meaning Old Hales snatched a 28-26 victory.

Next week Crewe face Stratford at home, 2.15pm kick off at the Vagrants in Willaston.

Both the 2nd team and Ladies fixtures fell foul to the freezing weather conditions and were postponed.

(Library image courtesy of Tony Pennance)