6 Try Bonus Point Win

Crusaders 39 - Newmarket 0

Crusaders' good start to the New Year continued with a resounding victory that gave them the double over Newmarket.

Newmarket should have taken the lead but they failed to convert 2 penalty opportunities. Jonathan Payne for Crusaders made no mistake with his opportunity to give Crusaders the lead.
Crusaders pressure on Newmarket was building and the visitor's defence was admirable stopping charging runs from George King, Robert Dye and Greg Thurston a metre from their line. The visitor's defence was finally breached when following a 5 metre scrum Dean Anderton crashed over for a Try capitalising on good work by No. 8 Robert Dye, half time 10 - 0.

Crusaders strenghtend their grip on the match when Rob Loone finished off a well supported move down Newmarket's right flank. A veritable feast of 15 man rugby was to come, Crusaders' welcome off the bench Lewis White having missed almost a season with a shoulder injury.

Good handling and interplay between Crusaders forwards with Henry Joy, Peter Blinkhorn and Robert Dye leading the charge
was finished off in classic style with Jonathan Payne feeding full back Ryan Harris's beautifully timed run for try No. 3.
Newmarket's dogged defence against a dominant Crusaders pack was undone once again by Jonathan Payne, when following a Newmarket clearance kick he picked out Lewis Kenworthy with a slide rule cross kick, the winger fielded the ball at top speed to score wide out.
Newmarket rallied and came close to scoring, but further tries from Greg Thurston and Simon Richards rounded off a game to be remembered for the home fans.
With league leaders Ely and Wymondham their next opponents Crusaders can take heart with the return of George King and Lewis White from long term injuries