NORTH WALES CRUSADERS boss Anthony Murray believes his side’s ‘vital’ victory over Hemel Stags will restore some much-needed confidence at the club.

The Cru ended their three-game losing streak in style at the Queensway Stadium, as they ran in seven tries against the Stags in a comprehensive 40-16 win.

A fine attacking first-half display did the damage as scores from Tommy Johnson, Owen Buckley, Joe Lyons, Alex Williams, Aaron Moore and Simon Atherton put the hosts 28-4 ahead.

Further tries from Jack Houghton and James Dandy kept the points ticking over and left Murray delighted with his side’s performance.

He said: “I thought we were excellent, particularly in that first half where we looked really sharp and carried a lot of threat going forward.

“Games like this one, where you’re going up against a side near the bottom of the table, bring their own type of pressure because the expectation when you're at home is that you’re going to win.

“But this is a tough league this season and just because a team is out of form doesn’t mean they can’t play rugby so it was vital we took the points."

“Before the game I asked the players for an improved performance and every one of them delivered on the day.

“It’s the kind of performance and result we need to bring a bit of confidence back after some tough results where maybe we haven’t got what we deserved from games.”

Since his return to the Wrexham club just over a month ago, Murray has strived to improve the squad’s fitness and all technical aspects of their play.

And while he has been impressed with the players’ steady progression, he believes there is a lot more to come form his side.

“I think it’s just a case of the lads finding a bit more of a clinical streak in their game” he added.

“Against Hemel we had something like a 50 per cent completion rate and we’ve still come away with the points.

“With all due respect to Stags, if we maintain those sort of numbers against the league’s bigger and better sides then we’re going to be found out.

“We’ve shown already that we’re capable of being competitive against the big sides this season, even if results haven’t always gone our way.

“But adding that ruthless edge to our game and eliminating errors will help us turn those sorts of performances into victories.

“From what I’ve seen already I know that the effort, commitment and enthusiasm is all there among this group of players and I ‘m confident results will pick up."

York City Knights stormed to the summit of League One as they ran in 25 tries in a 144-0 mauling of West Wales Raiders.

Bradford Bulls remain second after wining 32-6 at Doncaster, Whitehaven were 30-24 victors at Keighley, Coventry lost out 28-20 at home to London Skolars, while Newcastle triumphed 28-10 at home to Hunslet.