One pulls defender over, then it's hard to cross (7,2)

'one pulls defender over then' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'hard to cross' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'hard' could be 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications) and 'h' is located in the answer.
'to' is within the answer.
'cross' could be 'x' (X is cross-shaped) and 'x' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'it's' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?