Round 20
Celtic Crusaders 25 d. Salford City Reds 12

2009 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Celtic make it three wins for the season
Sun July 12, 2009
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Celtic Crusaders gave themselves the slightest chance of finishing off the bottom rung of the engage Super League ladder with a superb 25-12 victory over Salford City Reds at Brewery Field.

On the day former Salford and Wales legend David Watkins was made president of the Crusaders, this was a day the Welshmen had waited for since February.

However, it looked to be going the same way as the other games when Luke Adamson grabbed a try after two minutes before centre Stuart Littler made it 12-0, with full-back John Wilshere converting both touchdowns.

From somewhere, though, the Crusaders found some inner strength and began an outstanding comeback on 20 minutes when centre Marshall Chalk took a high ball on the sixth tackle on the Salford 25-yard line and raced over in the corner.

Wing Anthony Blackwood grabbed a try in the corner nine minutes later after a pass on the left in the Salford danger zone which full-back Damien Quinn, who had landed Chalk's conversion, booted as well.

That levelled matters and the Crusaders were soon in the lead. A drive upfield saw hooker Lincoln Withers dive in under some bodies from a few yards with Quinn's conversion simple.

The crowd, who have had little to cheer all season, were profoundly vocal and Salford looked decidedly unsettled for the rest of the game.

Shaun McRae's men had a number of chances to score but dropped the ball and made numerous errors as the pressure to score mounted.

Stand-off Matt Smith grabbed a fourth touchdown of the match which Quinn converted to give the Crusaders a 10-point lead.

And, from there, Salford lost control of the ball, gave away lots of penalties and were not really at the races.

A final Smith drop-goal in the 80th minute was just the finishing touch.


Celtic Crusaders v Salford City Reds Preview
Fri July 10, 2009
Source: www.crusadersrfl.com

Celtic Crusaders hope to have three players back from injury this Saturday against Salford City Reds at the Brewery Field (kick-off 6pm).

In a piece of good news for the club, Matty Smith has been named and it is hoped that he will take his place in the halves alongside Jace Van Dijk in a formation that has worked wonders whenever it has been in action this season.

Smith, who last took to the field against Catalans Dragons on May 23rd, can't wait to get back into action.

"I've been out for too long now," he said. "I hate missing games and I'm really looking forward to getting back into action. It should be a good close exciting game against Salford and I can't wait to be a part of it."

France-bound Damien Quinn, who last week missed a Crusaders league game for the first time since the dramatic 14-11 win over Featherstone Rovers on 10th September 2006, due to tonsillitis, returns, as does Adam Peek who has also only missed a week due to a minor knock.

Salford City Reds Head Coach Shaun McRae has had to alter his plans and make changes to his 19-man squad despite last week's famous win over St Helens.

Darrell Goulding has returned to Wigan after being recalled from his loan spell at The Willows but Jordan Turner continues to recover well and hopefully will take his place in the three-quarter line.

Young Dean McGilvray keeps his place after an impressive performance against his former club St Helens as the Reds look for their first Super League double of the season.

Richie Myler returns to the 19 and is in line to make his 50th appearance should he recover sufficiently from his heel injury that has kept him out for the past two games.

McRae said: "It's very difficult to change a team that performed so well last week but we have an enforced change with Darrell leaving us so there is a spot available and there are several options in mind. Neither Myler or Turner have trained fully all week but are in the squad which is a reflection of just how many players we have unavailable."

The day at the Brewery Field is going to be one of the biggest and most exciting days that the ground has ever seen.

The pre-match entertainment exceeds all proportions with the 2008 Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson headlining "County Dance Live", an event that sees 20 schools and four dance groups all entertaining the crowd.

The day starts at 2.30pm with the Final of the Crusaders' primary schools tag tournament, the culmination of a series of festivals that have been running all season.

Tickets are available on the door priced from £4 for children, £8 for seniors and £14 for adults while there are family ticket deals in the Glamorgan Gazette and other weekly local papers.

Celtic Crusaders reserves are also in action, taking on Salford's second string at Maesteg RFC (kick-off 2.30pm) while the Wales Dragonhearts take on Scotland Bravehearts at Blackwood RFC (kick-off 2.30pm).

CRUSADERS (from): 21. Chris Beasley, 5. Anthony Blackwood, 10. Mark Bryant, 23. Neil Budworth, 13. Marshall Chalk, 19. Jason Chan, 4. Mark Dalle Cort, 2. Luke Dyer, 16. Ben Flower, 17. Jordan James, 18. Mark Lennon, 15. Peter Lupton, 8. Ryan O'Hara, 11. Adam Peek, 6. Damien Quinn, 14. Matt Smith, 22. Steve Tyrer, 7. Jace Van Dijk, 9. Lincoln Withers

SALFORD (from): John Wilshere, Mark Henry, Stuart Littler, Jordan Turner, Dean McGilvray, Jeremy Smith, Stefan Ratchford, Ray Cashmere, Malcolm Alker, Craig Stapleton, Luke Adamson, Adam Sidlow, Luke Swain, Robbie Paul, Jason Walton, Phil Leuluai, Lee Jewitt, Andrew Thornley, Richard Myler.

Thu July 9, 2009
• Celtic Schools Finals at Brewery Field on Saturday
  
Wed July 8, 2009
• Tickets selling well for Crusaders' big day on Saturday
  

Advanced Search