FITZGERALD’S HAT-TRICK SEES ALL GOLDS HOME
NORTH HERTS CRUSADERS 20 – 38 BRISTOL ALL GOLDS
Christopher Wilson at Old Hale Way, Hitchin
SUMMARY
Bristol All Golds came from behind to secure a valuable 38-20 victory against a fiercely determined North Herts Crusaders side in Hitchin. Stand off Josh Fitzgerald scored a hat-trick of tries all at crucial moments for the All Golds as they tried to shake off their opponents.
After trailing 10-0, Oli Winterbottom crossed and then Fitzgerald levelled the scores before James Boyles’ try earned the All Golds a 16-10 half-time lead.
The Crusaders pulled a try back, but Fitzgerald restored the All Golds’ three score lead before Adam Turner and Brandon Lamb – on his 50th appearance for the club – extended the lead. Fitzgerald completed his hat-trick in response to a Crusaders try that briefly gave them a faint chance of salvaging something from the game and the All Golds saw out the final few minutes despite the dismissal of Jack Uren who threw a punch in reaction to a bad foul on Tom Baxter.
The win takes the All Golds three points clear of the Crusaders and above Brentwood Eels into sixth place in the table.
FULL REPORT
Bristol All Golds came from behind to secure a valuable 38-20 victory against a fiercely determined North Herts Crusaders side in Hitchin. Stand-off Josh Fitzgerald scored a hat-trick of tries all at crucial moments for the All Golds as they tried to shake off their opponents, while Tom Baxter and Carl Thompson were a powerful presence in attack.
Brandon Lamb celebrated his 50th game for the club with a well-taken try and, with a bit more luck, could have had a hat-trick to fully mark the occasion.
After a shortened preparation following a delayed departure from Bristol, the All Golds soon found themselves under pressure from the home side who took the game to the visitors from the off.
After a six-again followed by a penalty, the Crusaders worked an overlap for Josh Dell to score in the corner. Hugo Lennie’s conversion attempt was thwarted by the strong breeze.
It was nip and tuck for the next ten minutes until an excellent break down the right from the home side ended with Sam Bellinger coasting in to score by the posts. Lennie’s conversion was a formality to give the home side a deserved 10-0 lead.
The second quarter of the game, however, belonged to the All Golds as they dominated possession, which paid off with three unanswered tries.
With a dozen minutes to go to the break, consecutive six-agains allowed the All Golds to build pressure and after Thompson was held up over the line, Oli Winterbottom squeezed over in the corner. He was unable to convert his own try but was presented with an easier opportunity five minutes later when Fitzgerald saw the Crusaders were disorganised on their own line and made an angled run to score close to the posts.
The All Golds’ next set also finished with points as Merrett’s last-tackle kick to the wing found James Boyles in space and he wrongfooted the defence to touch down. Winterbottom again added the extras to give the All Golds a 16-10 interval lead.
The All Golds were controversially forced to defend a goal-line dropout right at the start of the second half, awarded despite the kick off seeming to go out of play on the full. However, they survived the scare and Leon Atherton’s excellent break after fielding a Crusaders’ kick led to Lamb breaking through, but he was ankle-tapped and the chance went begging.
The Crusaders made the most of their let-off and at the end of their next set, Rokotomana Davui forced his way over. Lennie was unsuccessful from the tee but the All Golds’ lead had been cut to two points.
However, the game was effectively decided in the next seven minutes as the All Golds turned up the heat and scored 18 unanswered points.
An error by the Crusaders early in their next set gifted the All Golds field position and possession where Fitzgerald fashioned a neat chip to the posts and was rewarded with a kind bounce to score a fine try improved by Winterbottom to edge the visitors’ lead to two scores.
Four minutes later, another home error from a restart invited the All Golds into excellent field position from which Adam Turner dived over from dummy half after Lamb had gone close.
Soon afterwards, Lamb was able to celebrate his milestone match as he touched down following good work from Harry Mills. Winterbottom added the extras to all three scores to give his side a 34-14 lead with a quarter of an hour to go.
The Crusaders, however, soon narrowed the gap with a soft try from Luke Overall converted by Lennie but Fitgerald immediately stepped up to claim his third try with a bustling run through several defenders. Winterbottom was wide with the goal kick to leave the score at 38-20 in favour of the visitors.
Unfortunately, the game exploded in the next few minutes as the excellent Baxter ran the ball back from the restart and received a stray boot in the face. After a brief flare-up, the Crusaders’ Joe Hall and the All Golds’ Jack Uren were shown a red card.
Play resumed with both sides looking for opportunities to score but only one chance was created, Fitzgerald’s chip being gathered by Lamb who had the ball knocked from his grasp by a desperate tackle.
The victory was a much needed one for the All Golds and it moves them up to sixth in the table, just below Eastern Rhinos, who are the visitors to the Lockleaze Sports Centre in a fortnight’s time (14 June) for what should be a thrilling encounter.
MatchStats
Teams:
CRUSADERS: Sam Bellinger; Josh Dell, Josh Parkhouse, Rokotomana Davui, Hugo Lennie; Joe Hall, Joe Allison; Jacob Knibbs, Glynn Hughes (Capt), Alex Ofulue; Callum Hall, Luke Overall; Liam Scofield. INTERCHANGE: Luke de Normanville, Tom Clark, Kudakwashe Gurure, Morgan Davies.
SCORERS
Tries: Dell (5), Bellinger (17), Davui (51), Overall (68).
Goals: Lennie 2 from 4.
ALL GOLDS: Oli Winterbottom; Leon Atherton, Brandon Lamb, Joe Capener, James Boyles; Josh Fitzgerald, Callum Merrett (Capt); Tom Baxter, Adam Turner, Eric Davidson; Tega Rume-Tabiowo, Harry Mills; Jack Uren. INTERCHANGE: Ben Neave, Carl Thompson, Morgan Lewis, Rob Davies. 18th Player: James Heathcote
SCORERS:
Tries: Winterbottom (28), Fitzgerald (33, 55, 70), Boyles (37), Turner (59), Lamb (63).
Goals: Winterbottom 5 from 7
Scoring sequence: 4-0, 10-0, 10-4, 10-10, 10-16, (HT), 14-16, 14-22, 14-28, 14-34, 20-34, 20-38, (FT)
Penalties: Crusaders 7-7 All Golds
Referee: Peter Hamer (RFL)
All Golds Player of the Match: Josh Fitzgerald’s hat-trick of tries was important but Tom Baxter’s powerful runs constantly put the All Golds on the front foot and allowed his side to set up dangerous attacks as they built a winning lead in the second half.