Crosfields 20

Ideal Isberg 23

SOAP full back Russ Parkman saw red in a frustrating start to the club's second division Conference campaign.

Isberg dominated early on with an unconverted try and a drop goal but Jamie Stenhouse hit back for Crosfields after 22 minutes

A penalty kick from Andy Holroyd put the home side 6-5 ahead at the interval.

Parkman was sent off on the intervention of the touch judge for an incident in a tackle four minutes after the restart but Crosfields still looked strong when Stenhouse scored his second try.

A Paul Kelly try appeared to put them in the driving seat but it all began to fall apart in the last 20 minutes as Isberg's numerical advantage began to show.

Isberg ran in two tries to steal the lead only for Andy Holroyd to snatch it back with a try after 76 minutes.

A tense finish saw Isberg move the ball wide on the last tackle in the final minute and grab a match-winning try at the death.

Crosfields had some excellent performances from centres Jamie Stenhouse and Paul Kelly, prop forward Chris Blackwell put in a superb game and John Bannon worked well at stand off.

Team: Russ Parkman, Andy Holroyd, Paul Kelly, Jamie Stenhouse, Ian Hannon, John Bannon, Dave Gibbons, Paul Hennessey, Carl Porter, Chris Blackwell, Lee Radcliffe, Matt Mahoney, Paul Williams. Subs: Mark Westor, Gary Maddocks, Doug Johnson, Darren Reynolds.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.