25th September 2005

Score : Saint Hill Blues 0 Crawley Elite 9

This was always going to be a tough test for the Saints, but having beaten the Elite boys 4-3 in a preseason friendly it came as a shock to see the team with a lot of faces from Crawley Devils who were promoted last year?!! It wasn't long before the pattern for the game was set when Elite netted in the first 5 mins.

The Elite team had a strong spine to their team from keeper through to their number 14 playing up front. That player was lucky to still be on the park at half time having kicked out at Marshal with the ref unsighted. Elite wanted the ball more than the Saints and were first to the tackle on most 50/50 balls.

Although Saints were 0-5 down at half time they showed what potential they do have and took the game to Elite for the first 10 mins. If they could have grabbed a quick goal it could have lifted them but it wasn't to be.

In the end Saints went down 0-9. The plus points were the team encouraging each other to do better. Good performances by Phil Mac and Steve Morley (and the ref) were tipped by a solid game by Matt Needle who was Saints player of the match, a fine performance stopped a possible rugby score.

Injuries to both Marshal and Morley near the end, left the Saints smarting from such a physical game. But as ever in football, there's always another game, another week, another day!!