The game started off fiery, with the Bears hammering the Devils’ defence for the first 10 minutes; but Crookwell managed to score twice, seeing Danny Knight and Charles McGeechan cross the white chalk.

Two quick tries made the score 10-0 until Jake Hunter dunked the ball over the line in the 29th minute.

A few minutes later, Benny Picker scored by backing up a run from Knight.

The Devils went into half time with a lead of 22 points, but down one man, with forward and vice-captain Jamie Boothman sustaining a knee injury.

By the start of the second half there was a feeling that the Bears had played their match. With nine players out, the opposition was left with a whole team of forwards.

The young Devils side found massive amounts of ground through the middle of the ruck area and Kurt Selmes, Darnell Rowells and the remainder of the forwards challenged their much larger opponents throughout the match. 

This sequence of plays found Benny Pele Evans cart wheeling into the corner for his first try of the year and also young Billy Cramp backing up from a game an hour before scoring his first-ever in George Tooke.

With Picker having a field day with the boot, managing to convert four from six, Ben Pele Evans decided to show off his kicking attributes by setting up Steve Cummins with a deliberate chip on.

It was a Jack Dawson, Steve Cummins affair for 12 minutes with the two racking up five tries between them.

By this stage of the game, Picker was 9 from 11 and couldn’t stop there.

His backing up paid off again with eight minutes remaining, with Danny the Kid Knight making his 30th line break of the match and passing to Picker to finish it off.

With the score being 68-0, Jake Hunter, off another golden boot, had the last laugh, scoring his double ending the score at 74 to nil. 

It seemed that everything Crookwell touched turned to gold on the glorious Sunday and it is a game that will be remembered.

Stand-out Benny Picker may have rattled it, picking up 30 points himself in the game, scoring two tries and converting 11 goals.

Player Danny Knight picking up a well-deserved Players Player award. Winner of the 100 Club was Brad Dawson and the second prize went to Taylor Hills. 

The Devils are on the top of the ladder and have won their last five games.

They are set to take on the Binalong Brahmans on May 27.