Crusaders - Wisbech

ECL1 Rugby Results - Crusaders 13 - Wisbech 18

Wisbech hung on to their promotion hopes at the expense of Crusaders who once again having fought hard to get their noses in front lacked the guile to close the game down in the final minutes. To be fair to Wisbech they had the only pack to test the home forwards this season and they stunned Crusaders early in the game with a well rehearsed drive from a line-out with a try that they failed to convert. Wisbech were enjoying more of the possession but Crusaders commitment in the tackles forced Wisbech into their half and resulted in a penalty opportunity for Jonathan Payne, from a good 40 metres and against the wind his kick sailed through the posts with some to spare much to the delight of the home supporters 3 - 5.
There was further cheer for Crusaders when Theo Elliot came off the bench for his first game in 3 months following a bad leg injury. A penalty at both ends gave Crusaders a 2 point deficit to chase. Super-sub Peter Blinkhorn proved to be the answer as Wisbech struggled to deal with his bulldozing runs from the back of the scrums. The visitors must have feared for their promotion chances when the big No. 8 broke down the blind side to score unopposed by the posts.
Payne converted to give Crusaders a lead with less than 10 minutes to go Crusaders looked favourites. Wisbech had other ideas and once again managed to secure the ball from their own restart and progressed into Crusaders 22, a good advantage decision by the referee seemed to confuse the Crusaders defence and good passing and support play restored Wisbech's lead with a converted try. Wisbech sealed a deserved win with a late penalty.