North Wales Crusaders staged a comeback in Cumbria to claim a crucial victory in their race for the Betfred League One play-offs, beating Workington Town 28-24 at Derwent Park.
On a run of three straight defeats, Carl Forster’s Crusaders side arrived in Workington knowing a win was vital to keeping their hunt for a play-off finish alive.
The hosts on the other hand came into the clash full of confidence from five wins straight, however, ex-North Wales coach Anthony Murray tasted defeat against his former club for the second time this season.
It was Workington who enjoyed the early pressure, making good possession count as they opened the afternoon’s scoring with just five minutes on the clock though Jack Stephenson.
Little over ten minutes later, the home side doubled their advantage as JJ Key made Crusaders pay for conceding a six-again.
Moments later, Forster’s side responded as Workington failed to deal with direct play from the visitors as Ben Evans bulldozed his way over the whitewash.
However, it didn’t take Workington long to hit back, as they scored two quick-fire tires courtesy of Jake Bradley and Billy Southward to race into a 22-6 lead.
With Crusaders facing a difficult afternoon, Dan Moss combined with Pat Ah Van to provide a glimmer of hope before the first-half came to an end, with the later running through the Workington defence to score.
A matter of second from half-time, the home side were dealt a further blow as Jordan Burns was shown a red card for foul play, reducing Workington to 12-men for the second half.
Despite being depleted, Workington stood strong in defence, keeping Crusaders out for the first twenty minutes of the second-half, including a ten minute period with just 11 men on the field following a sin-bin.
However, as the clocked ticked over to 60 minutes, Crusaders made their pressure count with captain Chris Barratt crashing through the defence to bring his side within four points.
Minutes later, Barratt went over for his second of the afternoon, giving Crusaders a 24-22 lead.
Keeping in tune with the rest of the game, the final minutes didn’t disappoint.
With little under ten minutes remaining, Workington were gifted an opportunity to level the scores as Carl Forber slotted over a penalty to tie the game at 24-24 going into its final moments.
As the game cried out for a hero, Cole Oakley was the man to step forward, playing on the last tackle, Oakley reacted quickly to ground the ball and complete a 28-24 comeback victory for Crusaders!
