On Saturday, Crusaders got their North East Rugby League season underway when they hosted Edinburgh Eagles in the second round of the NERL Open Age competition.

The two teams last clashed the season before in a physical contest north of the border, in the NERL Open Age Cup. On that occasion Edinburgh were 30 points to the better on home soil.

From the outset both teams became locked in a physical battle with defences holding strong for the first 20 minutes. It was the Eagles who broke the deadlock midway through the first half having forced a repeat set deep in Crusaders half. Crusaders continued to get through the Eagles line and were held up over the try line on 3 separate occasions by some tenacious defending by the Eagles and, on occasions, Crusaders failed to utilise opportunities out wide. Despite this, seasoned veteran Don Payne used some cheeky footwork to get over the line late on, which was subsequently converted by Terry Martin. Half time score 6-12.

Having lost Timoci Tuisovivi late in the first half due to injury, Crusaders were forced to reshuffle but the team responded well. Sean Flynn had an immediate effect and put in sterling work banging out tackle after tackle at marker. 10 minutes in Eagles hit a purple patch that saw them bag 3 tries in quick succession. Crusaders responded by steadying the ship in defence and putting the game back on an even keel, and the hard running and defending spectacle continued. After a blow to the head hooker Olly Bale was brought off for Crusaders with firstly Ben Smith and then Sean Flynn taking over the dummy half role. As time ticked away so did the result, however, Crusaders were determined to have the last shout and after some great approach play, scrum half Terry Martin put in a smart grubber to the wide players which was subsequently pounced on by Billy Mansfield for the score. Converted by Terry Martin. Final score 32-12.
Man of the Match selected by Edinburgh Eagles - Olly Bale.

Crusaders would like to thank Edinburgh Eagles for travelling down for a great game, your bus journey back was shaping up to be a good one, we hope it was as good as ours was last season! Crusaders would also like to thank everyone that came out to support, fantastic to see you all. Thanks also go to our secondary shirt sponsors Simply Sports Cover, injury to a player can be a stressful and financially damaging time, Crusaders would recommend Simply Sports Cover's policies to everyone, please follow the link from our home page. Lastly, The Hanson looked after us post match in great fashion, as per usual. There's always a lot going on at The Hanson and it's a great craic, please check them out.