Plum stays cool to add a touch of toodle pip
Dings ...................... 23pts Canterbury .......... 20pts
DINGS director of rugby Stean Williams singled out skipper Steve Plummer for special praise for holding his nerve to slot the match-winning penalty with the last kick of the game.
Williams said: “You have to take your hat off to Plum for landing that penalty from distance. I thought we deserved to win, and anyone who watched the game would probably have to admit it wasn’t a fluke or that Canterbury didn't show up.
“Earlier in the season, before our blip, we had the second best defensive record behind runaway leaders Rams, and today our defence was back on song.
“Canterbury had far more ball than us, but we managed to keep them down to two tries. Nobody expected us to win, so our sole objective was to put in a performance to be proud of. As is usually the case, if you produce a decent performance the results will follow.”
Crusaders got off to a flying start with centre Marcus Brooker muscling his way over on eight minutes for an unconverted try. But Canterbury came storming back to dominate territory and possession for the next 25 minutes.
Stand-off Ollie Best slotted two penalties to edge his side into a 6-5 lead before adding the extras after flanker Freddie Edwards scrambled over from close range.
Dings bounced back four minutes later, with Brooker barging his way over for his second try of the afternoon to make it 13-10 at the turnaround.
The high-tempo, expansive nature of the game continued in the secondhalf, with Canterbury running the ball from all positions, stretching the
Dings defence to the limit.
As the game went on, Crusaders grew in confidence and started to believe an upset was on the cards.
They took the lead on 58 minutes, with hooker Joe Hawkesby crashing over from the back of a driving maul. Plummer landed the touchline conversion to make it 17-13.
Plummer landed a 45metre penalty on 64-minutes to increase the lead for Dings, but the sides were back on level terms again when centre Johnathan Murray spotted a crack in the Dings defence to cross for a try ,converted by Best.
But neither team appeared content to settle for a draw and threw caution to the wind as the clock ticked down.
Canterbury, however, were penalised in the final minute for not releasing in the tackle.
Plummer stepped forward to coolly slot the penalty to secure Dings' a first win in five matches.
Canterbury coach Andy Pratt, though obviously disappointed to have lost such a tight game, had no complains.
He said: “All credit to Dings today. They defended very well and took their chances when they came along.”