Crewe & Nantwich RUFC returned to league action on Saturday when they welcomed Ludlow RFC to the Vagrants. And just like in their cup game a week earlier against West Bridgford, Crewe had to claw back from being twelve points behind at one point for another stunning win eventually winning by forty five points to thirty three.

Eighth place in the league, Ludlow arrived at second place Crewe desperate for points in order to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle. And it was they who started the better by scoring a stunning breakaway try in the corner which was then converted to go 7-0 up with just over five minutes gone.

Ludlow could have gone even further ahead on two separate occasions soon after had it not been for two excellent try saving tackles by Crewe scrum half Alex Caldwell and left wing Josh McShane.

This stunned Crewe, however they soon composed themselves and ten minutes later they drew level with a pick and go try from close to the Ludlow try line by flanker, Matt Standley which, was converted by Jim Creighton. 7-7.

Crewe looked to stamp their authority on the game and continued to put pressure on their visitors deep inside their half. This finally paid off when a scrum five meters out was won by Crewe and as they drove forward, No.8 Elliot Alston picked the ball up and crashed over the line to score Crewe’s second try of the game which was again converted by Creighton for Crewe to go 14-7 ahead.

The visitors didn’t panic and to their credit they played some good open rugby attacking Crewe at pace and it was from such an attack that they broke through to score another try which was converted to draw level 14-14.

From the restart Ludlow attacked Crewe again and from sustained pressure deep inside the Crewe half, Ludlow were awarded a penalty and Crewe winger Josh McShane was given a yellow card and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes.

Ludlow took full advantage of having that extra man as soon after they scored a try to take the lead but failed with the conversion to go 19-14 ahead.

The first half was drawing towards the end when Ludlow exposed the gap left by Crewe winger who was still in the sin bin to score their fourth try of the half in the corner which was also converted to make the half time score 26 -14 in Ludlow’s favour.

Crewe were in for a real battle now to get anything out of this game and whatever was said at half time by the coaching team, it seemed to work when early in the second half, home team hooker David Germain crashed over to score a try under the posts which was converted by Creighton. 26 - 21 to Ludlow.

McShane returned to the field of play following his 10 minutes in the sin bin and Crewe had a full team again.

The home team were back in the game and Ludlow, were finding it hard to get out of their own half. The Crewe pressure paid off when they were awarded a penalty which was scored by Creighton who was having a good afternoon with his boot and now they only trailed by two points. 26 -24 to Ludlow.

Crewe then took the lead with a stunning try made by their backs who, all played a part in a counter attack at speed with the ball being passed through hands for winger Elliott Meredith to score in the corner much to the home crowd’s delight. Creighton converted and now it was 31-26 to Crewe.

Crewe now looked dominant and it wasn’t long until they extended their lead further when captain and hard working centre, Toby Russell-Vick ran an excellent line to crash over to score Crewe’s fifth try of the afternoon, which Creighton converted to make it Crewe 38 – 26 Ludlow.

Once again though, the visitors rallied and with the game entering the last ten minutes their backs found a way through Crewe’s defence to score a try which was converted and closed the gap to just 5 points. 38 – 33 to Crewe.

It looked like it was going to be a nervous few minutes til the end of the game. However Crewe kept Ludlow back inside their own half from the restart and from a scrum 5 meters from the Ludlow try line, the hard working Crewe pack managed to push them back for flanker Alistair Lang to score a push over try for eagle eyed Creighton to convert again and put this entertaining afternoon of rugby to bed with the final score of Crewe & Nantwich 45 – 33 Ludlow.

The result means Crewe remain 2nd in the League and they now have a 5 point gap between them and the team lying in 3rd place which could be vital in their quest for promotion.

Head Coach, Peter Allen said “We showed a lot of character, grit and determination to come back and win this game today and scoring six tries was also very pleasing. However we also conceded too many tries due to poor discipline and missed tackles. We will work on these aspects and keep on improving in order to maintain our push towards the top of this league”.

Man of the match was Crewe centre and skipper, Toby Russell-Vick.

This Saturday Crewe & Nantwich make the short trip away to Newcastle RFC (Staffordshire) for another league match, kick off at 2.15pm.