MIDLANDS HURRICANES marked the return of head coach Rich Squires to the dugout with a 46-16 home defeat to title-chasing North Wales Crusaders.
Squires finally returned from a two-month ban for breaching betting rules only for his injury-ravaged Hurricanes side to produce a below par performance despite two tries from Liam Welham and a score from Nathan Newbound at Portway.
Crusaders pair Rob Massam and Jack Houghton both crossed twice for the visitors with further scores from Alexander Eckley, Tom Johnson, Matt Reid and Chris Barratt.
Squires said: “We’re down to the bare bones at the minute, Liam Welham had to have his finger reconstructed sixweeks ago and he’s back out today. We’re having to do it tough at the minute, but I think everybody is.
“Hopefully we can get some recruits in this week, move forwards and finish the season how we want to. We’ve got some points to prove before the end of the year.”
The visitors struck first when Patrick Ah Van’s floated kick on the final tackle was allowed to bounce by the Hurricanes defence with Eckley waiting to pounce and touch down.
Hurricanes responded when Welham finished well from Ben Stead’s lofted kick with the score the closest they came to their opponents all game.
Crusaders regained the lead five minutes later when Massam finished powerfully over the line with the try coming from a pass which looked to have travelled some yards forward.
The visitors extended their advantage with a simple move off the back of a scrum that led to Johnson shoving his way through to score.
They struck again moments before the break as Crusaders smashed through several defenders to keep the ball alive before eventually finding Houghton who touched down.
And Crusaders added another try before the half was out when Reid crossed for an easy score after a superbly-timed run and break by Gavin Rodden.
Hurricanes scored a crucial try at the start of the second period when Welham grabbed his second of the game after good work from his brother Matty.
However, their faint hopes of a comeback were dashed when Houghton dived through a hole in the Hurricanes defence before Barratt’s powerful score moments later all but ended the game as a contest.
The hosts did give the bumper summer crowd something to cheer with a quarter of an hour to play, when the lively Newbound crashed over, only for Crusaders’ Massam to have the final say with his second try late on.
There was one note of celebration for the Hurricanes however, as Saturday’s match marked Hayden Freeman’s 100th professional appearance in the game – leading the team onto the pitch for kick-off.
A Midlander, Freeman came through the Coventry Bears academy to become a firm favourite in the side, and is the record try scorer across the combined history of the Bears and Hurricanes.
Freeman said: “It’s a great milestone. I’ve been with the club for six years now and it’s buzzing, we’re building every year.
“It feels like we’re going in the right way and I’m more than happy to stick around for as long as I can keep playing.”
Hurricanes are next in action away at Swinton Lions on Sunday, July 17 with kick-off at 3pm at Heywood Road.
