Match Report: Catterick Crusaders U14s vs Scotland Rugby League U14s Venue: Kingston Park Stadium A thrilling contest unfolded at Kingston Park as the Catterick Crusaders Under 14s took on the Scotland Rugby League Under 14s in a high-intensity clash that showcased the very best of youth rugby league. Warm up The first half was a back-and-forth battle with both sides throwing everything into the contest. Big carries, crunching tackles, and moments of flair were on display from the opening whistle. Scotland managed to edge ahead just before the break, taking a narrow 12-8 lead into halftime despite Catterick’s relentless pressure and determined defence. After the interval, Catterick came out firing on all cylinders. Dominating possession and field position, the Crusaders started to take control. Their forwards laid a strong platform, punching holes through the Scottish line, while the backs capitalised with some slick ball movement and clinical finishing. Despite a few breaks from Scotland, Catterick’s defence stood firm under pressure, showing grit and discipline to shut down any threat. Importantly, this match saw several debutants proudly pull on the Catterick jersey for the first time , all of whom made a strong impact and showed great promise for the future. Their contributions were key in helping swing the momentum and build the pressure that led to crucial second-half tries. With a mix of experienced heads and fresh talent, Catterick pushed ahead and held strong in the closing minutes, sealing a hard-fought 20-16 win in what was a true team effort. It was a brilliant display of teamwork, resilience, and determination from Catterick Crusaders U14s — a match they can be proud of on such a big stage.

Crusaders Masters embarked on a road trip to Barrow-in-Furness on Saturday, trading tackles for camaraderie at the Cumbria Masters Festival. Before kickoff, Jase, Darren, Gaz, and Jay fueled up with a hearty breakfast at Tebay Truckstop – fry-ups all round after the oats with wild berries sold out before they got there - honest! The festival was hosted at the fantastic Barrow Island Community and Sports Hub, where organization was top-notch. Crusaders joined forces with Edinburgh Cannons' gents, and were drawn into Pool 2 against Carlisle, Maryport, and Blackpool Stanley. The games were filled with great Masters rugby and even better sportsmanship. Special thanks to Jay for stepping up as team first aider for the day, and to Goadie – the ultimate Masters spirit man! He ditched a family holiday in Corfu a day early to fly into Manchester and make the festival, showing true dedication. Huge thanks to our kit sponsors Marston, heritage polo sponsors Burties Hair Design, eCreative Designs, Top Third, iSecure Group, and Lighthouse Risk Services, and off-field gear sponsors The Hildyard Arms, Thirstywork, 4Aces, Richie McGrath Pre-Training and Breaking, JDN First Aid, and AA First Water Coolers.

Starting on 01 April, our Chairman, Jason Grant MBE, embarked on a personal challenge of 30 coldwater dips throughout the month of April. He now has just 5 dips to go! The purpose of the challenge is to raise money for an inclusion fund for the club. It’s pretty clear we never know what’s around the corner, anyone may need support at any time. Crusaders have always been proud to provide assistance in times of financial hardship - covering players subs, purchasing personal pieces of kit such as new boots, providing flowers and cards at times of reflection and tour funding contributions for our players. Jase would like to raise £1000, with Go Fund Me setting the first target as £700. Things are going well and through Go Fund Me and cash donations he has raised £490. Can you help boost funds? It would be fantastic to hit the target! Please see the below link to the fundraising page, and don’t forget to share! https://gofund.me/c152c271 Thanks in advance for your support. #crusadersfamily

Last Saturday morning saw twelve Crusaders head North, for their second u12s festival of the season. Cramlington hosted us and provided the opposition for our first game. In a closely fought contest both teams showed grit in defence to keep each other working hard for tries. In the end a 3 all draw was a fair result. Next up was a real end to end game against Yarm. This fixture was all about attack as both sides took it in turns to find holes in each other's defence. Crusaders ran out 8-7 winners in a game where they would feel they should have scored a few more. The final fixture saw a confident Crusaders display in both attack and defence against a second Cramlington side. Team work was in abundance as combinations came together to score some scintillating tries, whilst communication was on show in defence to keep opposition tries to a minimum. The lads ran out comfortable winners to finish the day unbeaten and feeling pretty pleased with themselves. Well done boys, we're all looking forward to what this season holds, the future looks bright. The U12’s would like to thank Moortown Group Ltd for their recent sponsorship.

Saturday 12th April saw the season start for our Under 10s with journey north to Cramlington Rockets, “to tunnel or not to tunnel” was the question discussed by parents on the sideline before kick off. Making their Crusaders debut were Otis and Seb made their Catterick Crusaders debut. Three games were on the fixtures list: Game 1 Catterick Crusaders v Cramlington Rockets. A great game where both sides were evenly matched. Defenses were strong and neither team were willing to allow the opposition through, however, Noah Button did stride through to open up the scoring for this season. Cramlington quickly made a break through to make their opening try of the season. Both teams continued to play well and some great tries were scored. Player of the match voted by Rockets went to Max. Game 2 Catterick Crusaders v Gateshead Storm Crusaders were caught napping at the start of this game and Storm were quick to score, before the boys were able to get stuck themselves in the game. Defence was the key to this game and the boys came together to stop Storm running forward at will. Player of the match voted by Storm went to Lochlan. Game 3 Catterick Crusaders v Yarm Wolves/Cramlington Rockets A great game to finish off the morning, the boys were switched on from the first whistle of the game. Team play on show, passing the ball, two and three in a tackle and getting back on side quickly. There was some great tried scored in this game and some brilliant tackling. Player of the match voted by Storm went to Otis. Players on Saturday were: Max, Otis, Seb, Noah B, Noah F, Lochlan, Austin, Neil & Oscar. Well Done boys, things are looking good for our 2025 season. Coaches player of the day went to Max. Parents player of the day went to Lochlan. “Well Done” to all players, a huge “thank you” to all parents for taking your superstars there and for Cramlington Rockets for hosting and arranging the best weather.

On Saturday, our Masters team took the 2 hour journey West to Barrow to take on Barrow Masters at the home of Roose Pioneers at Flass Lane. It’s always inadviseable to play on an empty stomach, so the first order of the day for Jase, Goady, Darren and Gaz was an early departure to ensure they gained sustenance at the Tebay truck stop! Very nice it was too! With a full bellies and Jase suffering from geographical over confidence they set off for Roose! Expect for Goady, he bizarrely used the instructions and postcode given, which took him straight to Roose Pioneers! The car containing Jase headed to Roose, where he had played against Roose RLFC as a kid! How dare they move some 20 years ago and not tell him!! As for the game …… a great game ensued. Both teams playing, flowing attacking Masters and displaying strong defence. Both sides should have had a couple more tries in the usual 0-0 draw, but they were either out foxed by solid defence or just couldn’t catch that last pass. All in all it made for a great game played in a fantastic spirit, brilliantly controlled by whistle blower Shaun McPoland. Ben Smith deservedly took Master of the Match. Jase cemented his place as Richard of the Day, with not 1 but 2 kicks that went out on the full! Post match Barrow Masters were excellent hosts and it was great to share a few beers and the craic with them. The breakfast crew, also turned into the sleepover crew, and stayed the night in Barrow taking in few beverage outlets (and a curry house - it’s the law!). Proudly wearing club stash, it was great to have plenty of well natured enquiries as to who we were. Crusaders Masters would like to thank your kit sponsors, Marston. We’d also like to thank our heritage polo sponsors Burties Hair Design, eCreative Designs, Top Third, iSecure Group and Lighthouse Risk Services. Massive thanks to our off field gear sponsors, The Hildyard Arms, Thirstywork, 4Aces, Richie McGrath Pre-Training and Breaking, JDN First Aid and AA First Water Coolers.

On Saturday (5th April), our Cubs section makes a long awaited return to Saturday mornings. Cubs will run from 10am - 10:30am for 2-4 year olds. Then 10:30am - 11am for 4-6 year olds. All sessions will take place at Robertson Rd. Coaching the sessions will be one of our newly qualified coaches, Katie Coburn. Cubs is non contact rugby based fun games for both boys and girls. If you’d like your little one to get involved please message the website or scan the QR code on the poster. The more the merrier!

Tomorrow, despite low availability, our Masters team will attend the Masters Season Launch Festival at Kippax Welfare. As ever our friends at North East Thunder Masters have replied to the rallying call, along with UK Armed Forces Masters, ensuring we can field a team. It’s an early start, but we will get to play 2 teams we’ve never played before. First up is Guiseley Rangers at 12:30, who we last played in 2023. Straight after that game it’s a match against the hosts, Kippax Welfare at 13:15, before closing off our afternoon with a game against West Bowling at 14:15. Each game is 20 minutes long.

On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, 1 of our U8’s and 8 of our U10’s took part in the PlayMaker Award, from the Leadership Skills Foundation and delivered by our very own Jason Grant. The award is nationally recognised and is the first rung on the ladder of Leadership Awards. The course was mainly activity based with some classroom work. The learners worked on the pneumonic PACE and by the end were able to lead on sessions they had planned, taking into consideration the Participants, Area, Communication and Equipment. The confidence and character the group showed was brilliant and the teamwork and involvement in group discussions was also first rate. The club is looking to host more of these courses, and hopefully, for some of our older players. If any clubs, organisations or schools would like the details on PlayMaker, please get in touch.

On Saturday our junior teams got together for their first session of season. Crusaders have always encouraged players to continue their commitment to other sports they are involved in, during our off season, but it was brilliant to see such great numbers for session 1. A boost this season was being able to benefit from funding given to us by Mears. The U16’s had new coach Kev Forrester in attendance, who’s course was funded by Mears. There was plenty of new rugby balls as well as new contact pads. Everyone was keen to be back and it was great to see a lot of new faces …… and a few returnees. If you’d like to get involved then please contact us via the website for further details.

Yesterday Crusaders Masters got their season underway with a cracking fixture against North East Thunder Masters at Robertson Rd. From the off it was clear to see the work Crusaders have been putting in at training. The team were a lot sharper and much better organised. Crusaders were first on the scoreline when UKAF Masters guest player, Andy Gray combined with Kev “Butch” Forrester to cut through the Thunder line. The response from Thunder was swift and they capitalised through some great runs from their Tag shorted players and great organisation from another UKAF Master, Darrell McClaren. Before the end of the first 20 minute period Jason Grant offered an inside line to draw in numbers whilst John “Longers” Longden threw a great pass to Romoi “Baz” Baselala who cut a half break before passing to Jay “ittookme2yearstoscoreatry” Wainwright to score. Despite both teams being unable to recollect this fete, the club has been contacted by a fell walker who was battling 30mph winds at the top of Sca Fell Pike but managed to hear Jay’s celebration! Thunder continued to play great rugby and Crusaders had to work hard to prevent them from scoring more than the other two tries they scored. The game was end to end throughout but it wasn’t until deep into the last 20 mins period that Crusaders were able to capitalise off a rare Thunder error and some swift handling found Crusaders debutant Adam Thompson in space out wide to run in a try from 40 metres out. The ethos of Masters is to list every game as a nil all draw, with no bragging rights. Well this one was actually a draw, and with bragging rights for both teams about the quality of the rugby on display. Thank you very much to North East Thunder for a great game. Also thanks to the UKAF, York and Carlisle players that backed up Thunder yesterday. Thank you to the man in the middle, Paul Clarke, much appreciated. Thank you The Hildyard Arms for hosting us post match.

The moment we’ve all been eagerly waiting for ……… “when does training start again? After a meeting last week it was decided that we would stick with our traditional start point of the school half term, with the exact date being, Saturday 22 February 25. This season will see new teams created at U7’s (tag only) and U18’s. We will of course be running teams at U8, U10, U12, U14 and U16. Sessions will be starting at 10am at Robertson Rd Sports Pitches. In the afternoon our Masters team will take on North East Thunder Masters at Robertson Rd. It’s going to be a big day, with participants ranging from 6 to 60+ years old! #crusadersfamily #rugbyleague