Crewe & Nantwich win again to proceed into the next round of the cup

Both teams came to the match feeling confident as both had only lost 1 in 5 in their respective leagues and West Bridgford are top of their league and Crewe are second in theirs so the purists were expecting a tight game and that’s exactly what we had.
This was also the first ever meeting between both sides and it was West Bridgford who came out of the blocks quickest when they took an early lead scoring a try in the corner which was also converted inside the first five minutes to go 7-0 up.
Crewe rallied from this and from very early on they looked very dominant in the scrum but they just couldn’t break through the solid West Bridgford defence to get back on level terms.
This gave the visitors confidence and on 15 minutes an excellent counter attack from inside their own half saw them extend their lead further when they scored their second try of the game to go 12-0 up. A missed conversion kick didn’t add to their score.
Crewe were a little rattled and although not playing badly they didn’t look as comfortable and as fluid as they had done last week when they beat Leek 45-0 away from home.
West Bridgford were going to make a game of it! And Crewe knew that they would have to battle hard to earn their place in the draw for the next round.
Once again the home team rallied and with their supporters behind them they soon got on to scoreboard, when No.8 Elliott Alston touchdown after a solid push over scrum from the home team’s dominant pack. The try went unconverted so the score remained 12-5 West Bridgford.
Crewe were now getting into the West Bridgford half at will as well as maintaining possession as they looked to get even. It was no surprise that Eli Woodward, Crewe’s talismanic skipper would lead by example when he eventually charged over the line at the front of a rolling maul to score Crewe’s second try of the game which went unconverted but brought them back within two points of the visitors. 12-10 to West Bridgford at the halfway point.
The second half started pretty much as the first had ended with Crewe in the ascendency and making runs deep into the West Bridgford half. They were growing in confidence and their endeavour eventually paid off when young second row Joe Telfer scored Crewe’s third try of the match to take a well deserved lead by 15-12 as Creighton missed his third conversion kick of the afternoon.
Crewe’s comeback seemed to be the wake-up call that the visitors from Nottinghamshire had been waiting for as they began making inroads into the Crewe half which they hadn’t done much of in the second half. Their backs were fast and looked very comfortable with the ball in their hands. They weren’t ready to give up and indeed they retook the lead with a breakaway try that was duly converted to go 19-15 in front.
This was turning into a proper cup tie with both teams running at each other but failing to breach the defences. That was until Crewe were awarded to put in to a scrum 5 meter’s short of the West Bridgford try line. Once again the industrious and efficient pack did its job perfectly as they drove their opponents back for No.8 Elliott Alston to score his second try of the game which saw Crewe regain the lead, which was extended by a further two points when Jim Creighton converted to make it 22-19 in Crewe’s favour.
Crewe were dealt a bitter blow with 15 minutes to go when their influential captain, Eli Woodward had to leave the field with what seemed to be a serious knee injury. Crewe had to shuffle a few players around and it was replacement winger, Toby Ward who extended Crewe’s lead even further when he scored an excellent try from the counter attack to make it 27-19 for Crewe as the try went unconverted.
The game was heading towards its final minutes when once again West Bridgford sprung into another counter attack to score an excellent try which was converted and so bringing them within a point of Crewe who still led 27-26.
Thankfully for the home team and their nervous supporters that’s how it stayed as the ref blew his final whistle on an enthralling cup tie played in good spirits.
Following the game, Crewe & Nantwich Head Coach Peter Allen said “I’m happy we dug out a win against a team that played very good rugby and made it a difficult and sometimes frustrating afternoon for us at the breakdown. We showed a lot of character to come from behind twice to win today”. He added “That’s the fourth match out of six we’ve played so far this season in which we have scored five or more tries – that in its self is credit to the team. We return to league action next week in good spirits and hope to maintain this run of wins we are putting together”.
Crewe & Nantwich entertain Ludlow this Saturday in a league fixture with kick off at 2.15pm