THE Nashua Crusaders slumped to their second successive defeat at home on Thursday evening last week as Jonsson College Rovers beat them 28-14 in an absorbing Fidelity Moor Cup clash. Six tries were scored in the 80 minutes played, with the visitors scoring four tries to the homes side’s two. The first half began in the worst possible fashion for the Crusaders, who were penalised early on for not releasing in the tackle.
The ensuing penalty was missed by Rovers flyhalf and former Lions player, Guy Cronjé. The visitors didn’t rue the miss as a rolling maul saw them dot down for the opening try of the game just minutes later. Cronjé added the extra two. The Crusaders had a chance to hit back with two penalties just five minutes apart, but both attempts at goal were missed by fullback, Merlynn Pieterse.
That was the end of the home side’s chances, as Rovers scored three unanswered tries in quick succession through Jeandré Small, JP Jonck and Riaan O’Neill. The situation didn’t get any better for the home side as they lost two players to yellow cards in between the try-fest. While the Crusaders lacked any fight in the first half, the second half was a complete turnaround as the team fought back with plenty of spirit and determination.
Willem Rheeder scored a fantastic individual try eight minutes into the second forty minutes to open his account for the season. What followed was a sustained period of pressure by the home side in the Rovers’ half. This proved instrumental as the referee awarded Crusaders a penalty try and sin-binned Rovers flank, JP Jonck.
An alleged headbutt by the Rovers replacement, Kobus Lourens, saw the visitors reduced to 14 men in the dying minutes of the game. The Crusaders, however, could not capitalise on their numerical advantage and the game ended with the teams 14 points adrift.
Dale Farnham, Crusaders technical director, said his side just didn’t switch on in the first half, which cost them the game.
“We just fell asleep, we didn’t do the basics right and we paid the ultimate price. That said, I thought our second half performance showed what we are capable of and gave an example of our strength of character. We won that second half 14-0, which was fantastic. At the end of the day, it’s another lesson learnt. We just have to set things right in our next away game,” he said.
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