Holt are punished for lack of discipline

Holt 3, Crusaders 7

Holt were narrowly beaten by Crusaders in the first round of The Woodforde's Norfolk Senior Cup.

Crusaders play in the league above Holt, but are not having the best of seasons, so the hosts had had hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

The early stages of the game were spent with Holt sussing out their opponents and they were duly rewarded when, after nine minutes, Allen was on target with a penalty to give them the lead 3-0.

Athough the game was not scintillating, Holt appeared to have the measure of the opposition, but again frittered away good attacking moves with the customary penalty which gave Crusaders a breathing space and also their three-quarters the chance to show their ability.

They were also wide with a penalty attempt after 17 minutes to level the scores. Half-time arrived with no further scoring and Holt looked quite comfortable, despite their narrow lead.

The second half had Holt under pressure and from a penalty conceded, backed up by chat to the referee, Crusaders ran the ball through their swift backs to score a well taken try which was converted to give them a 3-7 lead.

There was still over half an hour of play left, giving Holt ample time to redress the situation, but they were up against a determined side who were not going to be upset by being forced into errors.

In fact Crusaders nearly increased their lead after 17 minutes with a penalty.

As time ticked away it became increasingly obvious Holt were not going to score the all important try and the final whistle went with Crusaders relieved to have survived the pressure and to go through to the semi-final by a narrow margin.

Holt have themselves to blame for conceding the try through ill discipline. Itt is high time they learnt to accept decisions against them and to keep quiet.

Holt entertain the President's XV on Boxing Day at 11am and then have next Saturday off before the league programme resumes on January 5 with a home game against West Norfolk.