Roose Pioneers 22 Thatto Heath Crusaders 18 A LATE rally wasn't enough to save Heath from defeat at premiership newcomers Roose Pioneers.

Heath found themselves four points down after only five minutes when Roose scored through scrum-half Danny Burns who was put through by their strong running international centre Paul Bowness.

Heath replied when centre Jamie Hill went over wide out and raced under the sticks before grounding the ball. Mike Woods converted.

But five minutes later Roose regained the lead through Bowness and Steve Perry converted.

Heath went further behind when Pioneers winger Steve Edmondson scored out wide.

The second half saw Thatto suffer greatly as they were on the receiving end of a very high penalty count.

Heath started their fightback with an excellent try for replacement stand-off Paul Coope who raced on to a Martin Harvey pass to touch down under the sticks and put the away side back into contention. Mike Woods converted to pull Heath back to within two points.

With both packs working hard, in particular Martin Horton for Heath, the next score came in the form of a penalty goal for Roose, Steve Perry taking the points.

On the 25-minute mark Roose extended their lead with a try for stand-off George Cubiss, who broke the Heath line to score under the sticks, Perry again adding the two. Heath rallied in the final quarter and clever work by scrum-half Martin Harvey and brave running by the Heath pack saw them come close on several occasions only to be thwarted by a determined Roose defence. With two minutes to go player-coach Gary Forber, on as replacement, scored under the sticks taking three defenders over with him in a brave last attempt.

But it was too late to save the points despite Martin Harvey adding the conversion as Heath lost out 20-18. Thatto Heath Crusaders A 42

Crosfields 8

Heath blasted their way to victory after the Soapmen had taken an 8-nil lead.

Centre Mark Hayton and wing John Pumford combined well to open Heath's account with a fine 70-yard try. Loose- forward, Keiron Lacey, was next over the whitewash with an opportunist try and just before half time a blitz of tries had the visitors rocking, two from scrum-half Ian Chisnall and one each from stand-off Mark Cook and wingman Ricky Newman who later left the field injured.

Hayton capped a fine performance with a good individual try early in the second half.

The scoring dried up for a spell until Chisnall completed his hat-trick in the 67th minute. Cook converted five of the tries.

Best for Thatto Heath were Lacey, second row Dave Donoghue, Chisnall, prop Dominic Hulse and Cook.

Crusaders under 16s 24

Golborne 6

Simon Dingsdale scored two tries and kicked a goal in this emphatic win. Other try scorers were Martin Bailey, Carl Anders and Ste Hand. Man of the match was Carl Traynor with Martin Bailey and the impressive James Burrows alwasy looking dangerous. Other players in form were Gaz Brookes, Ste Hand, Joe Sullivan, Carl Anders and Neil Molyneux.

Woolston under 15s 18

Crusaders 30

Tries came from Mike Saunders, Gaz Bowes, Dave Anders, Kev Brown and Keiron Maddocks, with Brown adding five conversions.

Crusaders under 12s 8

Ince St Williams 8

This was a fair result for a very physical game. Thatto Heath man of the match was Andrew Scott, coaches awards went to Dave Roughley and Adam Dugdale and top tackler was Jack Clark. Blackbrook under 11s 10

Crusaders 18

Crusaders clinched a fine victory in this tough encounter between two evenly matched sides. Try scorers for Crusaders were Ben Robinson, Ste Parkinson and top tackler Craig Dearden. Goals were added by man of the match Jon Kerr and coaches award winner Ryan Robinson. Other goals were added by Tom Carsley. Alex McClurg and Ste Taylor also impressed to earn coaches awards.

Crusaders under 10s 16

Ince St Williams 10

Crusaders got back to winning ways with an impressive team performance. Try scorers were Anthony Harden (2), and Dave Brownbill and conversions were scored by Shaun Forber and Lee Gaskell. The man-of-the-match award was shared by Anthony Harden and Ste Barton, coaches awards went to Dave Brownbill and Chima Maxwell. Top tackler was Ryan Hannan.

Blackbrook under nines 20

Crusaders 4

Try scorer for Crusaders was Matt Harris. Man of the match was Daniel Hughes, coaches award went to Matt Jackson, unsung hero was Chris Smith and most improved Adrian Briody.

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