Knottingley 41

Aireborough 15

ALTHOUGH they expected a tough game against the unbeaten league leaders, Aireborough must be disappointed with their absence of commitment in a lack lustre performance where they did not do themselves justice.

Conceding a try in the first minute, soon followed by a penalty, put them on their heels and they were fortunate to claw their way back with a Steve Brewer penalty to be only five points adrift at half-time.

After the interval, however, the opposition backs cut loose aided by gaping holes in Aireborough's midfield to score three tries in rapid succession to put the game out of Aireborough's reach. Stung into action, Aireborough's forward raised their game for tries to be scored by flanker Martin hemsley, followed by Steve Brewer, who added a conversion to make the score more respectable. This respite wa only temporary as the opposition scored two further tries to underline their superiority.

In a game of few notable performances the pick of the forwards was hooker Richard Leather and centre Alistair Macrae who never gave up the fight.

Aireborough must pick themselves up for a home club game against Littleborough at Nunroyd on Saturday.

Crusaders 7

Knottingley A 38

A much changed Crusaders outfit struggled against their highly mobile visitors. In the early stages Crusaders mounted sustained attacks through complete control of first phase possession, with James Dale dominating the line-outs and hooker Nigel Craven taking many strikes against the head.

This allowed No 8 Steve Richings and scrum-half Steve Timme to control matters and initiate forward rushes.

However, this pressure could not be converted into points due to a lack of penetration in the backs, although winger Chris Illingworth continued his impressive form with some strong bursts. The strength of the opposition soon became apparent as their backs ran Crusaders defence ragged aided by some less than adequate tackling, and they crossed for four tries to reach a match-winning lead of 24 points at half-time.

The introduction of substitute Phil Gelder at stand-off gave Crusaders more attacking options and, through good interplay between backs and forward they applied early pressure to the opposition.

This was rewarded when, from a line-out, captain and No 8 Tony Exley galloped to the line for his 10th try to become the club's leading try-scorer.

A conversion from Phil Gelder lifted Crusaders confidence but the supremacy of the opposition backs caused them problems for the rest of the game, with full-back Steve Gaunt making important tackles and flanker Pete Lancester plugging many gaps.

Two further tries were conceded by Crusaders on a disappointing day for them, but they can take solace from the general commitment and cohesion of their forward play which kept them in the game.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.