13-07-2025
North Wales Crusaders bag another win in their title quest
Carl Forster's charges have demonstrated they are the team to beat this season and they took another giant stride towards the championship with their 20-6 home triumph against Dewsbury Rams.
Title rivals Midlands Hurricanes lost out at Workington Town and Crusaders are now four points clear.
In a rematch from the opening day of the League One season, Crusaders came firing out of the blocks.
Looking to complete a league double versus the Rams, North Wales had the lead in the ninth minute when Pat Ah Van was sent clear for a try by Jordy Gibson's pass.
Dewsbury looked to attack and a threatening high kick was gathered under pressure by Ollie Brookes.
Then, on 17 minutes, Crusaders managed to stretch their advantage.
Lloyd Roby was on hand with the try and Jamie Dallimore duly added the extra two points from wide out.
Things got even better for Crusaders just four minutes later. Chris Barratt opened up the Dewsbury defence with a superb run and Olly Davies was there to grab the home side's third score of the afternoon. Dallimore was once again on the money with his conversion attempt and North Wales had a healthy 16-point advantage.
Crusaders will have wanted to keep their opponents out for the whole half, but this didn't turn out to be the case.
Just a minute away from the interval, Dewsbury finally got themselves on the scoreboard with Liam Copland's converted try in the corner and this managed to cut North Wales' advantage to 10 points at the midway mark.
North Wales, victorious against high-flying rivals Midlands Hurricanes and Workington in recent weeks, will have been aiming for a positive opening to the second half under the sun at Colwyn Bay's Stadiwm CSM.
It was nip-and-tuck when the action got back underway and no further work was required from the scoreboard operators during the initial stages.
Aiming to edge closer to their hosts, Dewsbury did manage to win a penalty deep in Crusaders' territory, but North Wales were able to deal well with this and regain possession.
As the half developed, North Wales demonstrated their defensive prowess to force their opponents into a goal-line drop-out.
It was game over with six minutes left to play as North Wales claimed their fourth try of the contest. Sam Wilde pounced to score from Gibson's kick through.
This hard-fought victory keeps Crusaders clear at the top of the standings and with six matches left to play, North Wales know that four more triumphs will be sufficient to spark a title-winning party.
Another week off is in the offing for North Wales, before they return to action with their trip to Newcastle Thunder on July 27.
Swinton are up to second after their 52-10 win over Newcastle, while Midlands lost out 29-12 at Workington. Elsewhere, Goole thrashed Whitehaven 56-6.
