In the last 10 minutes the Reds lost two players - both through yellow cards - as they lost their composure in the face of the strong Crusaders onslaught.

By the end of the first half the Reds looked to be adding another upset to the early history of the Super 14 as they led 14-11 and deserved to be leading. They were lively, enterprising and resolute.

By the end of the match the score suggested that the Reds had been thrashed. That was unfair. Till 67 minutes of the match, the Reds were ahead, only 21-19 but the Crusaders had to battle to get that close.

In the last 13 minutes the Crusaders scored 28 points with their customary smoothness and speed, using every opportunity.

It is no wonder that afterwards Chris Latham, the Reds brave captain, called the Crusaders the "best team in the competition". He also called them "the world's best counter-attackers".

In that time of Crusader resurgence the Reds, so tight and determined, came apart a bit and had Mitchell Chapman sent to the sin bin for an illegal tackle with ten minutes to go and then David Croft sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle in the last movement of the match.

But the dangerous tackle that counted most came from Lloyd Johansson on Leon Macdonald. The ball spat loose from MacDonald's grasp and Elton Flatley went racing over for a try, only to have the effort nullified. There were three crucial dangerous tackles in this period of Reds' suffering.

Each side had scored a try by half-time, and the Reds nearly had another.

Right in the first two minutes of the match young, skilled Berrick Barnes kicked a high, hanging kick. Rico Gear of the Crusaders was in his in-goal when he jumped for the ball. Hugh McMenamin of the Crusaders also jumped. They collided. The ball spat back towards the dead-ball line where Flatley of the Reds dived on it.

The referee referred the matter to the television match official, asking advice on two things - the possibility of  foul play in the in-goal, which he is entitled to ask about, and the grounding of the ball.

The advice came that McMenamin had played Gear illegally in the air, and so was penalised.

That was early drama.

But the Reds were not disheartened and came back attacking. When Chris Jack was penalised for obstruction (crossing), Flatley goaled the penalty to give his side the lead.

From a free kick, the Reds tapped and Barnes ran at the Crusaders. At the last minute the brilliant teenager popped a little pass to his right where Drew Mitchell came through the gap and off, skating wide past Caleb Ralph and over far out for a great try.

The  Crusaders did not waste time in hitting back. They went to the left-hand touch-line and then with long, fast, accurate passes they sent to ball to the right where MacDonald had an overlap and the impetus to take him past Latham and over in the corner in Barnes's covering tackle.

The Crusaders attacked again and threatened the Reds' line till Mose Tuiali'i lost the ball.

Carter, who missed three penalty attempts, goaled his third attempt to make the score 8-all, but Flatley kicked two penalty goals when first Kevin Senio and then Chris Jack were penalised. 14-8.

At this stage the Reds were playing excellent rugby and first Sam Cordingley and then, twice, McMenamin had promising runs. Instead it was Carter who kicked the last score of the half when Croft was penalised for entering a tackle/ruck from the side.

That made it 14-11 at the break.

The Reds continued as they had been playing with great attacks by McMenamin and Chapman, then by Flatley and then by Cordingley. Croft was close and then Cordingley again, but the Crusaders' held.

They had a great chance to score when Mauger broke and MacDonald carried it on, hoisting a kick into the Reds' 22. Casey Laulala got the ball but the Reds held out.

On 55 minutes MacDonald did an unpromising thing as he stepped inside towards a tackle/ruck but suddenly he was bursting free down the midfield. From a tackle/ruck the Crusaders went blind. Carter handed off to Flatley and raced over for a try. That put the visitors ahead 16-14 to the delight of their many expatriate supporters amongst the 25 000 crowd.

The lead did not last long for Johansson burst through Carter, beat the next two Crusaders and gave to Huxley on his right. Huxley played further out to Latham on an overlap and the captain raced round for the try at the posts. Flatley converted to make the score 21-16 to the Reds after 58 minutes.

Six minutes later Tom McVerry, a replacement, was penalised at a tackle and Carter kicked the easy kick. 21-19. Still the Reds led.

The Reds were clearly troubled by the flying Crusaders out wide which allowed Carter to play inside to Gear who cut clean through to draw the defender and send Laulala over for the try which Carter converted. After 68 minutes the Crusaders led 26-21 and now they stretched their legs and their lead.

On a counterattack MacDonald made the initial running and then Mauger sped downfield. Johansson hit Mauger with a shuddering tackle but it did not stop the off-load and Carter scored his second try, which he converted. 31-23 with ten minutes to play.

Carter kicked a left-footed diagonal wide to his right. Gear caught the ball on the full, stepped, accelerated, dummied and burst through for a gem of a try. Carter converted. 40-21 with three minutes left.

The Crusaders came close twice in a matter of a minute as first young Steven Yates raced down the left from a poor kick by Huxley, but Huxley recovered and made the try-saving tackle. Then Brad Mika, also a replacement, was stopped at the line as the powerful man thundered ahead. Instead it was Mauger who was sent scooting through for the final try which flattered the Crusaders - perhaps - and did the Reds an injustice.

Man of the Match: Berrick Barnes is an obvious talent, Hugh McMenamin was great on attack and defence and Chris Latham was great, once doing a shudder, a shimmy and a charge to beat a man on the outside when just a metre from touch. Leon MacDonald had an outstanding match. It was his attacking that made the big win. Our Man of the Match is from the losing side - Sam Cordingley who was so lively, so committed, so exciting and at the same time provided a fast and accurate service, so important to the young fly-half on his outside.

The scorers:

For the Reds:
Tries: Mitchell, Latham
Con: Flatley
Pens: Flatley 3

For the Crusaders:
Tries: MacDonald, Carter 2, Gear 2, Mauger
Cons: Carter 4
Pens: Carter 3

Yellow cards: Mitchell Chapman (Reds, 70), David Croft (Reds, 79)

Teams:

Reds: 15 Chris Latham (captain), 14 Henari Veratau, 13 Julian Huxley, 12 Elton Flatley, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 Mitchell Chapman, 7 David Croft, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill, 4 Mark Connors, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements: 16 Tom Court, 17 Stephen Moore, 18 Cameron Treloar, 19 Tom McVerry, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Lloyd Johansson, 22 Caleb Brown.

Crusaders: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Caleb Ralph, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Richard McCaw (captain), 6 Reuben Thorne, 5 Ross Filipo, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Greg Somerville.
Replacements: 16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Brad Mika, 19 Johnny Leo'o, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Cameron McIntyre, 22 Steven Yates.

Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Paul Marks (Australia)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Assessor: Brian Kinsey or Geoff Pegg (Australia)