North Wales Crusaders returned to winning ways courtesy of a 20-10 victory over Dewsbury Rams in Round One of their 2025 Betfred League One season.
In spite of difficult conditions at the FLAIR Stadium, Carl Forster’s Crusaders side put in an impressive display in Yorkshire to begin their league campaign victorious.
The Welsh side registered their first points of the game just five minutes in as Jamie Dallimore, returning to the side having missed out through injury last week, converted a penalty, awarded for a dangerous tackle on Jack Houghton, to give his side a two point lead.
A physical encounter ensued with Crusaders’ defensive efforts tested by the hosts who camped themselves on the line without reward.
Gifted for their efforts down one end of the field, North Wales extended their advantage with twenty minutes on the clock as Lloyd Roby found space in the Dewsbury line to dart through and pass out wide to Pat Ah Van who finished in the corner.
The home side hit back moments later as Kieran Taylor narrowly missed out in an attempt to intercept a looping pass to the wing leaving George Senior with a gap to run through and score.
Sam Wilde brought the first-half action to a close as he bounced off the Dewsbury defence to find the line and see Crusaders take a 10-4 lead into the break.
The second-half saw Forster’s side dominate, testing the Ram’s defence whilst playing against the wind.
Dallimore once again took advantage of the home side’s ill discipline, converting his second penalty of the afternoon, before Ah Van caught the Dewsbury defence out with a leap into the corner on the last tackle to secure his brace and give Crusaders a 20-4 lead.
The home side continued to battle, and found reward in the dying moment of the game as they ran through to score what proved to be a consolation effort as Forster’s Crusaders side began their season with two points on the board.
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