Crewe & Nantwich earn revenge win over second placed Bowdon

Crewe and Nantwich 1sts earned a well deserved 20-10 victory over promotion-chasing Bowdon, exacting revenge for defeat earlier in the season.

Bowdon won their home clash with Crewe 29-21 and the re-match produced an entertaining, feisty contest.

From kick off at Vagrants, Crewe found themselves under pressure in their own 22.

They completed a long defensive set and managed to find some territory of their own as they progressed into the Bowdon half.

A series of dominant scrums followed and with advantage being played, Crewe moved the ball wide before Redd Jones (pictured) touched down for his first try of the afternoon, 5-0 Crewe.

Again, Crewe found themselves in the Bowdon 22 and from a scrum, Crewe pushed the visitors backwards and Redd dotted down for his second try which was converted to make it 12-0.

Before the half ended, Bowdon responded strongly and forced a succession of penalties before crashing over from close range, leaving the score 12-5 at the break, and both sides down to 14 men.

The second half began and neither side could get a proper grip of the game, with stop starts all over the field.

Two further yellow cards were shown before eventually Crewe managed to find an opening with a penalty from Ieuan Paske, 15-5.

Eventually, a quality break from Ben Applin created space for the backs as Jacob Aston O’Donovan rounded off a fine move to touch down in the corner for a 20-5 lead.

With 10 minutes to go, Crewe found themselves in their own 22 and after failing to clear their lines, Bowdon rolled a maul over from close range leaving the final score 20-10.

Crewe play on Wednesday night against Birkenhead Park in the cup, 7pm kick off at Chester RUFC.

Meanwhile, the second team had a tough away fixture at Didsbury.

A slow start saw them slip behind. A strong second half brought Crewe back into the game but ultimately the gap proved too big as they went down 32-19.

The Women’s fixture was at home to Southport.

A much improved performance from Crewe saw them only 5-0 down and pressing hard for a score after 29 minutes. Unfortunately, the game was then abandoned.