CRUSADERS thrashed London Skolars and kept them out for the full 80 minutes to head into the play-offs in perfect fashion.
With North Wales offering free entry as part of a Community Day, another decent crowd at Stadiwm ZipWorld in Colwyn Bay watched them put in a professional display.
London weren’t without their opportunities throughout the match, but North Wales defended excellently and had to bide their time on occasions in attack.
With a high completion rate and good discipline once again, Crusaders eventually managed to grind down Skolars and ended up with a dominant 44-0 win.
The home side took the lead within the opening ten minutes as a looping pass to the left wing dropped to Rob Massam, who managed to force his way over in the corner.
It didn’t take long for Massam, who finished the campaign on 22 tries alongside Barrow’s Tee Ritson, to add another as Crusaders once again assaulted the left edge.
With half-time approaching and the game still very much in the balance, North Wales grabbed their third when Gav Rodden crashed over from close range.
London really needed to score early in the second-half to give themselves any chance of getting back into the game, but it was Crusaders who got their fourth of the afternoon.
With Tommy Johnson’s three goals up until that point meaning he needed just two more points to reach 1,500 for Crusaders, the hosts spread play to the right and it freed space up for the fullback to touch down, reaching that impressive club milestone at the same time.
North Wales were really starting to hit their stride at this point and Massam completed his hat-trick as Johnson’s lovely cut-out pass to left wing saw him cross unopposed in the corner.
The Welshmen were having a lot of joy down the left edge and Jordy Gibson’s delightful grubber kick down the touchline allowed Ben Morris to break, but his inside pass couldn’t be collected by either of the two men in support with the line begging.
Crusaders didn’t have to wait long for their next opportunity, though, with an overlap created for Dave Eccleston to cross down the right for his first try of the campaign.
Pat Ah Van then got in on the act, cutting inside from the right flank and showing a turn of pace to knock off a number of attempted tackles on his way to the line.
From the next set as the full-time hooter was about to sound, Crusaders rounded off their scoring for the afternoon as Rob Massam made it four, collecting Gibson’s pin-point grubber kick into the in-goal area.
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