North Wales Crusaders claimed a vital victory on the south coast as their play-off push continued with a 16-10 win over Cornwall.
It was the home side who enjoyed the majority of spoils in the first-half, with Crusaders frequently made to pay for their errors.
With just six minutes gone, Cornwall opened the afternoon’s scoring as Cameron Brown collected his own kick to score.
The home side’s defence was then called upon, but stood strong in the face of back-to-back penalties for Crusaders who failed to trouble the Cornwall line.
As the clocked ticked over to twenty minutes played, Cornwall doubled their advantage.
Choosing to run the ball on the last tackle, the home side took the North Wales defence by surprise as Decarlo Trerise crossed the whitewash.
Crusaders were lucky to not be punished further, as multiple errors gave Cornwall good field position.
However, with five minutes of the first-half remaining, momentum shifted with the hosts reduced to 12 men as Nathan Cullen was sent to the sin-bin following a tip tackle.
Making use of their man advantage, Crusaders hit back through Olly Davies who finished a move which begun with a Toby Hughes break to send the teams into half-time with the score at 10-4 in favour of the hosts.
Crusaders began the second-half as they had ended the first, as Pat Ah Van finished a nice attacking move to bring the visitors within two points of Cornwall.
The visitors finally took the lead for the first time with 50 minutes played as Chris Barratt received a flat pass near the Cornwall line before turning and reaching out to ground the ball.
A close battle ensued with both sides having opportunities to score quashed by strong opposition defence, leaving the game to heat up in the middle of the park.
As a scrappy encounter ensued, Crusaders looked to ensure they left with the two points as Pat Ah Van converted a penalty just inside the Cornwall half taking his side six points clear.
Despite rugged efforts from Cornwall, Crusaders hung on to claim their third victory on the bounce and bring the two points home to North Wales ahead of a crucial clash against Midlands Hurricanes at Stadiwm CSM next Sunday.
