15th December EC1 Crusaders 19 - Wymondham 24

15th December EC1 Crusaders 19 - Wymondham 24

Wymondhams narrow victory kept them at top of league 1. Crusaders struggled to produce their recent home form and elementary errors gave Wymondham some good field positions resulting in Wyatt putting the visitors in front with an early drop goal but the same player missed 2 good penalty opportunities. Wymondham took advantage of Crusaders' misdemeanors and stunned the home side with trys from Brugger, Wilson and Anderson-Brown and looked home and dry at 24-0. Crusaders forwards who had worked hard to give their backs a good supply of ball decided to retain the ball themselves, some good interpassing between the big men resulted in Stuart Cameron scoring under the posts, Smith converted to give the home side hope at 7-24.
=Crusaders rung the changes at half time with Rob Loone switching to fly half for the injured Elliott and Ryan Harris who had an excellent first half fielding Wyatt's kicks on the wing was switched to scrumhalf. Just as Wymondham had dominated the first half, the roles were now reversed with the visitors having to defend for long periods in their 22 as the Crusaders pack took control. Crusaders domination in the scrum was rewarded with a forwards push over try, touched down by Henry Joy. Repeated penalties against the visitors tested the referee's patience and a penalty try brought the home side to within 5 points at 19-24. Wymondham broke out of defence with 10 minutes remaining and Wyatt had an opportunity to relieve the pressure with a penalty but he pulled his kick wide. Crusaders had the visitors pinned on their line for the remainder of the game and they were reduced to 14 men when their 2nd row was sin-binned for a late tackle on Crusaders scrum-half Harris who was unable to continue. Wymondham celebrated the whistle but Crusaders should be proud of their come back.