East RL Cup Semi Final
North Herts Crusaders 50 -v- 22 St Albans Centurions A disastrous 10-minutes either side of half-time cost the Centurions dear as they crashed out of the cup at the hands of runaway League leaders, North Herts Crusaders. Having been comprehensively outplayed by the Hitchin outfit on the opening day of the season, the Centurions started brightly enough with tries from the Jake Lawrence and the returning Nick Woolley ensuring the sides were neck-and-neck after half-an-hour. But then as legs began to tire, North Herts’ speed merchants stepped up a gear and took the game away from the visitors. Ten minutes into the second-half and the game was already gone at 34-10 down. But this Centurions’ team has heart and continued to put everything into the tackle and to drive the ball in without fear as typified by the impressive Niall Loughlin. Player-coach Simba Mupamhanga rolled back the years, with a match-leading 20 tackles whilst missing none. An inspirational Woolley grabbed his hat-trick with two more tries under the posts but resolute defending from the Crusaders kept the Centurions out when other sides would have conceded. Sheer exhaustion from the visitors allowed the home side to score late breakaway tries to add a little extra gloss to their well-deserved victory. “Those guys were good”, admitted Coach Mupamhanga “really good, but when we were organised and stuck to the game plan we had their measure. Our first try was straight off the training ground and simply tore them apart. It was our inability to stay organised for the whole 80 minutes, to stay focused when we were tiring, that’s what made the difference and what we’ll be working to put right for Saturday.” The Centurions are away to St Ives Roosters on Saturday 23rd, 2.30pm start. Match day photos now on our photo website Comments are closed.
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