WHAT a spell it has been for the North Wales Crusaders!

The side’s losing sequence in League One came to an end with Sunday’s epic 34-32 victory over Workington Town, which was rubber-stamped by Chris Barratt’s try in the closing seconds, converted by Ben Lane.

There’s also been positive news off the field with confirmation that the club has received full approval from the Rugby Football League for the acquisition of a majority shareholding in the club by Jamie Elkaleh.

Headed by the new owner, the club will be managed by a new board of directors containing Ahmed Elkaleh, Crusaders’ CEO Andy Moulsdale and Shaun Gould.

“We’d like to place on record a huge thank you to the previous board of directors who have acted not just as exemplary custodians of the club, but also rugby league in North Wales, and they will all hold important roles moving forward,” said a Crusaders’ statement.

“A particular thank you goes to the service of Ian Edwards who acted as club chairman from the inauguration of North Wales Crusaders and has carried out his duties with the upmost commitment to ensuring the club finds itself in the position which it’s in today.

“Over the coming week supporters shall begin to see a number of positive announcements released by the club, in addition to a date for a fan’s forum event where you’ll be able to learn of Jamie’s plans for the club.”

On acquiring a majority shareholding in the club, Elkaleh told the Crusaders’ website: “This is a proud moment for myself and my family.

“Given our rugby league backgrounds, the opportunity to take North Wales Crusaders forward is one which I am incredibly honoured to have.

“I’d like to echo the message in the statement, and pass my upmost thanks onto the board of directors, volunteers, supporters trust and fans who have brought the club to where it is today - that effort can never be forgotten.

“We now enter an exciting time for the club as a whole with plenty of positive stories to follow, and I look forward to meeting you all very soon.

“This club means so much to all of us, I’m excited to embark on a journey together and bring success back to North Wales Crusaders as just reward for the hard work and dedication which you’ve all shown.”

Former Crusaders’ coach Anthony Murray was left to reflect on the “cruel” nature of rugby league following Sunday’s epic showdown at Colwyn Bay’s Stadiwm CSM.

Murray is now coach at Workington Town, who held a 10-point lead with less than 10 minutes left to play, before Crusaders won it right at the end.

He told the Workington Facebook page: “Rugby’s cruel! It’s cruel. Do you know what, we came here (with) people playing out of position and came here probably a little bit depleted again in numbers.

“But, there was no lack of effort whatsoever from our team today and that’s a game that got away from us again. We played more or less for the duration of the 80 minutes today and was really unfortunate not to sort of get what we deserved out of the game, which was the two points.

“But, that’s rugby and we’ve just got to roll our sleeves up, dig in again.”