Tickle treble sinks Crusaders

Three tries from Danny Tickle helped Hull see-off the strong challenge of newcomers Celtic Crusaders as Bridgend hosted a Super League game for the first time.

The Crusaders may have recorded a third straight defeat as they start out life in Super League, but again they proved to be a lot tougher than many people expected as they went down 28-20.

A crowd of over 5,000 packed Brewery Field and they were given a great start to Super League life as the Crusaders took an early 10-0 lead with tries from Damien Quinn and Marshall Chalk.

Hull then took over and scored 24 unanswered points, with Tickle running in three tries in eight minutes after Richard Horne had gone over.

Mark Calderwood then sealed a good performance from Hull with a try a minute from time, but Tony Duggan's try right on the hooter gave the home side the final word in another promising performance.

Perfect start

Quinn got the Crusaders off to a great start with his eighth minute score, and it got even better after 15 minutes when Chalk crossed the whitewash to double the home side's advantage.

Josh Hannay converted and the Crusaders sat on a 10-0 lead and it was smiles all round, until Hull woke up and put their foot on the gas.

The Crusaders have already shown they will be a lot tougher than expected, but they still sampled how hard they will find this season as the visitors soon pulled away.

Kick-start

Horne got the visitors on the board with his 20th-minute try, and from then on it was the Tickle show as soon as he had converted that score.

Tickle ran in three tries eight minutes either side of half time, and he converted his efforts on 36, 40 and 44 minutes to add 20 points as quick as a flash.

To their credit, the Crusaders responded and Chalk went over for his second try on 49 minutes to reduce the deficit down to eight points at 24-16.

The score never got any closer though, and although Calderwood's score seemed to be the last action of the game, Duggan ensured the Crusaders had the last word on a promising but ultimately fruitless evening.