It was a special day for Crusaders Rugby Club as Norwich Lions kicked off following the Connor Clarke Memorial Game, which two of our own, Harvey Wilson and Steele Keeble, had also featured in. The match also saw the welcome return of the Bailey brothers, Warren Hollidge and Archie Gibbs.
The Lions got off to a flying start, with Captain Mak Dorsett opening the scoring. Spotting space down the blind side, Mak made a superb run from the 22-metre line to touch down in the right-hand corner.
Harvey Wilson soon followed, finishing in the same corner after some excellent patience and pressure from the Lions, who spent much of the first half camped in opposition territory. It was a fantastic way for Harvey to mark his return after 10 months out, following surgery.
The Lions continued to apply the pressure and their next score came in the form of a penalty try. Moving the ball down the right-hand side, Harvey Wilson carried from halfway to within five metres of the line before being stopped by a high tackle from behind by the Crusaders full-back.
We probably shouldn’t mention Harvey’s attempted offload in the tackle… but we will. Lee Parry summed it up perfectly: “What the hell was that offload? Did the ref feel that bad for you that he gave you a penalty try?” Harvey was promptly substituted after the try, leaving us all to wonder whether that offload was part of the plan!
The Lions went into half-time with a commanding 0-19 lead, having dominated the scrums and controlled much of the game. Despite the cold, soaking-wet conditions, the lads moved the ball around as if they were playing on a dry summer’s afternoon.
The second half proved to be a more even contest. Crusaders crossed the line either side of a fantastic individual effort from Steele Keeble, who picked up the ball on the left-hand side of the 22 and ran all the way across to the far-right corner. It was an excellent finish that extended the Lions’ lead to 12-24.
With strong support behind them, Crusaders began to build momentum, and the Lions didn’t do themselves any favours with two second-half yellow cards for Wally and Sam Furness. However, Norwich showed great character to weather the pressure and respond in style.
Llewy Bailey was next to make his mark, taking on multiple Crusaders defenders on the five-metre line with some excellent footwork before producing a clever offload to Harvey Wilson, who finished in the corner. The score moved to 29–12, and Harvey was left claiming a hat-trick on his return. Whether the penalty try counts towards his personal tally is a debate we’ll leave to the readers!
The final score of the afternoon was a moment of magic from Thomas Muckley. Drawing on his experience as an ex-American football player, Thomas cut inside and beat multiple defenders before powering over under the posts. Tyler “Big T” Westgate added the conversion, showing that perhaps we shouldn’t have overlooked him as a kicker given his footballing background!
It was another proud day for the Norwich Lions, with a convincing win, some excellent individual performances and plenty of positives to take forward. Most importantly, the squad continues to grow, the returning players are finding their feet, and the team spirit is building week by week.
Full-time: Norwich Lions 36–12 Crusaders 2s
Up the Lions!
