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Morpeth punish off colour Crossleyans
Morpeth 24 Old Crossleyans 8 THE trip to face a side one place below them in North East Two always looked likely to be tough for Crocs and so it proved as they slipped to defeat.
The errors which had crept into their play the previous week returned and they were second best to a well organised opposition side who gained revenge on a Crocs outfit who had done the double on them last season.
Possession was frequently gifted to the opposition and although the lineout improved, poor kicking and turnovers kept Crocs defending for long spells and overall their play lacked cohesion.
On a mild, windless afternoon, the visitors welcomed back Mark Thomas to stiffen a back row which still lacked established players, but lock Matt Horne was missing with Mark Jowett again filling in.
Crossleyans started well but were soon 7-0 down when impressive full back Mather ran through a missed tackle to score a try under the posts. He converted himself.
Crocs reduced the arrears soon after when Morpeth were penalised for not releasing the ball, Joel Hinchcliffe kicking a terrific 46 yards penalty goal.
Soon after a defensive mix up resulted in a simple try for Morpeth, but the deficit was reduced when after a good Crocs forward drive, Ryan Hammond gave a looping pass to Richard Thomas and he fed Adam Hinchcliffe who powered through four tackles to touch down near the corner.
Joel Hinchcliffe just missed the difficult conversion.
However, another loose Crocs kick gave Morpeth possession and winger Hornby notched a smart try.
On 30 minutes, Morpeth fly half Harper was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on, but Hinchcliffe was just wide with the penalty, and though James Wainwright's good weaving run led to another penalty, the quick tap came to nought and the home side held their 17-8 lead up to the break.
It was still all to play for but Crocs could not take advantage when their hosts were down to 14 men and when Harper returned, Morpeth began to dominate and centre Hills fielded a weak kick 20 metres from the Crocs line and ran through five tackles to score under the posts with Mather converting.
Despite some good work by Chris Seymour, the visitors were unable to reduce the arrears and their cause was not helped when they lost Richard Thomas to a shoulder injury.
Terry Michael and Shane Davies were thrown on in the later stages but it was to no avail as the home side held on comfortably and would have increased their lead but for a fine Dan Bancroft tackle.
OLD Crossleyans' second XV beat Keighley 38-15, with captain Guy Austin bagging two tries. Stalwart Steve Jordan was man of the match.
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
