Wrexham era ends in defeat
Crusaders' final home game as a Super League club ended in disappointment as they were crushed by Hull.
Last Updated: 21/08/11 5:33pm
Crusaders' final home game as a Super League club ended in disappointment as they were crushed by Hull.
The Black and Whites are battling to earn a play-off berth and they started the contest in Wrexham like a side with plenty to play for.
They quickly found a big hole in the home defence, allowing loose forward Craig Fitzgibbon to stroll over for a converted touchdown.
Moments later, great hands in the Crusaders danger zone saw prop Mark O'Meley scramble over and Danny Tickle again converted.
Hull were dominating, with Danny Houghton excellent at dummy half, and, after a couple of brief counter-attacks from the Crusaders, the visitors moved 16-0 in front.
Home skipper Clinton Schifcofske gave away a penalty in front of his posts and, after a couple of plays, Tickle sent centre Richard Whiting in at the corner.
Tempo
Hull upped the tempo once more as the home side struggled to keep pace. Fitzgibbon went over for his second try on 29 minutes but they lost Danny Tickle straight afterwards.
And it was a fifth Hull try on 34 minutes when replacement Lee Radford rattled the posts as he touched down, with Joe Westerman kicking the goal instead of Tickle
Just before the half-time hooter, Houghton made it six tries in the opening period when he went through the defence for another converted try.
The pain for the hosts continued after the break.
Tries from Cameron Phelps, Westerman and Jordan Turner took Hull to 48-0 before centre Vince Mellars got a touchdown back which meant the Crusaders at least finished their home campaign with points on the board.
But just past the hour mark Sam Obst went over in the corner to take Hull past the 50-point mark.
Martin and Peter Lupton both crossed for the Crusaders in the closing 10 minutes, before Obst grabbed his second try for Hull.
