Final Pre Season Warm Up Game

Crusaders v Fakenham

Crusader's final pre season game was against Fakenham at home and the sun was shining again, with everyone hoping for another good game of rugby.
Fakenham started the game strongly and were getting the upper hand in the scrums,but were unable to turn the early pressure into points.
The first points came from the boot of Theo Elliot, who slotted over a penalty,3-0 to Crus. The game became a little flat, with lots of good forward play, but not a lot of chances for either side. Another penalty from Theo Elliot moved the score onto 6-0. The Fakenham fullback collected the ball in his own half and a nice run saw him break two or three tackles, but the Crusaders defence held strong and managed to clear their lines. The game was a very physical one and despite a few flare ups,the Ref and Captains did a good job of keeping the players in line. A good move just before half time saw the ball come wide to Connor Howard, who broke through the first tackle, only to be then brought down centimetres from the line.Crusaders knew they were in a game and even though Fakenham had thrown everything at them, the half time score was 6 - 0 to Crus.
A great start to the second half saw Crusaders on the Fakenham 22 and a good break by George King saw him pop the ball to Josh Stuart, who was never going to be stopped from that range. Theo Elliot converted the try, 13-0 to Crus.
Crus quickly followed this try with another, when the impressive Callum Slaughter broke 2 tackles and went in under the posts. Theo Elliot again converting the try,20-0 to Crus.
Fakenham never gave up and from a line out, Crus missed a couple of tackles and Fakenham scored under the posts, which they converted, 20-7.Crus were now dominating the Fakenham scrum and a great drive by the pack saw Pete Blinkhorn pick up and go down the blindside, beating 2 men, he then popped the ball off to Rob Loone, who scored in the corner.Crus 25 Fakenham 7.
All the pre season training was now begining to pay off as Crusaders started to play some flowing rugby, and another lovely run from Callum Slaughter, saw him cut inside to beat his man and go over for another try, taking the score to 30-7. The try was converted by Theo Elliot, 32-7 to Crus. In the last play of the game, the returning Will Crome scored after another good move to finish things off, making the final score 37-7 to Crus.
A tough game all round, with both teams contributing to a good game of rugby, with Crus scoring some lovely tries.
Well done to all involved, I know we had more than a few players feeling it after the game.
Next up is our League opener, with the firsts travelling to Mersea Island and Seconds at Thetford.

Bossman