SteveC Report: Pipped at the Wire

The Celtic Crusaders came within a whisker of claiming at least a point at Warrington on Sunday afternoon before a Wolves late-show secured maximum points for the home side. Lee Briers, skipper of Wales, inspired the Cheshire club to the win. SteveC – part of the small band of travelling fans at the Halliwell Jones Stadium – gives us his view on the 27-22 defeat.

Sadly another week of "close but no prize" was the story of Sunday's trip to Warrington.

I arrived around 2pm to find that the lack of away ticket sales had meant Warrington moved us to the South Stand with their own standing fans; not a problem given the camaraderie around the league but it did make it harder to carve out any real away following identity. I suspect that might be a recurring theme of the season unless away numbers pick up dramatically.

I for one feared the worse when Warrington went over comparatively easily down the left flank early in the game; it was as if the recent defensive strength had reverted to the more porous style we used against Leeds and Salford.

Thankfully that bad opening was an aberration and we soon got into the game, giving as good as we got.

Two fine tries from Blackwood and Withers put us in the driving seat for a while, the latter try was the result of a fine kick through from Matty Smith who I've not seen have a bad game; if only he was ours for "keeps".

Lee Briers had put the Wolves back level and we were counting down to the half time hooter as Hannay went over in the corner and then converted his own try to give us, IMHO, a deserved 18-12 lead at the break.

The Wolves fans around me were quite scathing of their own teams "one up football" and in truth there were not too many occasions, the first try being a notable exception, when they went wide, but they were making good ground with Morley and Rauhihi carrying the ball into contact.

Warrington had pulled 4 points back to make it 18-16 when Dyer went over in the corner, the resulting conversion attempt from Smith hit the outside of the post and crucially we were only 6 ahead going into the back end of the game.

"If only" may end up being the word for the season, but if only we'd had the extra 2 then the drop goal might not have been an option for Lee Briers once a Warrington side that was finishing strongly had pulled back to 22 all. With Cru chasing the game there was a certain inevitability to the final try that gave the Wolves their 5 point margin.

The Crusaders weren't helped when the final 8 minutes or so were played out with 12 men after Ryan O'Hara was binned but more crucially a few minutes prior to that, Matt Smith had been helped off the field and we missed his guile in those closing minutes. We desperately need him, and Jace, back as soon as possible.

The Warrington fans around me were relieved at the end and although, in the bar tonight, they will probably be telling themselves they deserved the win, I do not think they would have had too many complaints had we snatched that elusive first win.