the report states that, "after a splendid game Crusaders won by 5 to 2." Crusaders went on to compete in the Dunville Alliance, Ormeau Junior Alliance, Alexandra Alliance, Woodvale Alliance and Irish Football Alliance (the latter of which they won three years in a row from 1916–1918) until their election to the Irish Intermediate League in 1921. Intermediate years (1921–1949) The Crues rapidly became one of the top intermediate sides in the country, and won an impressive collection of trophies, including the Intermediate League championship six times in ten years from 1923–1933. In addition, the side were very successful in the top junior cup competition, the Steel & Sons Cup, winning the competition on seven occasions as a junior side (the first team would win the same cup again many years later in 2005, after relegation to intermediate football). The side also reached the Irish Cup semi finals three times in the 1920s. The first came in the 1923–24 season, where they were defeated by that season's Irish League champions Queen's Island in a replay at Pirrie Park. In the 1924–25 season the Crues knocked out senior sides Larne and Belfast Celtic before being halted by Glentoran at The Oval in the semi finals (who also went on to be champions that year). They reached the semi-finals once again in 1927, losing 2–4 at home to derby rivals Cliftonville. The Crues also reached the final of the Belfast Charities Cup in 1923 (losing to Glentoran), also an impressive achievement as the competition was open to all senior clubs in Belfast and the surrounding area. Despite these feats, repeated applications for entry to the senior Irish League were turned down. The frustration at the club was such that serious consideration was given to making membership applications either to the Scottish Football League or to the League of Ireland. However, the Second World War intervened and no football at all was played by the Crues between April 1941 and September 1945. Crusaders began competing once more in the Intermediate League after the war, beginning with the 1945–46 season. Early Irish League years (1949–1960) Crusaders won the 1948–49 Intermediate League with a record number of points, and coupled with the vacancy created by the dramatic withdrawal of Belfast Celtic from the senior ranks in 1949, Crusaders were finally elected to the senior Irish League in time for the start of the 1949–50 season.