Friday Feeling – 1st October 2021

As the calendar clicks over into October most people in the North of England generally consider it to be acceptable to fire up the central heating for a few hours each day if conditions demand. 

However, determining where the North of England starts is the subject of speculation and debate by the great minds of our time. Anne Hegarty from the ‘Chase’ considers that it includes anything north of Stoke on Trent, Richard Osman from ‘Pointless’ was less sure and posed the question on Twitter but Caldy’s Barrie Pilgrim is certain the North of England starts a few miles north of Hinckley.

What these respected thought leaders all agree on is that Caldy RFC and their visitors this weekend, Darlington Mowden Park RFC, are both in the North of England and are two of a shrinking number of top-class rugby union clubs still representing what is the gritty and bleak side of the North/South divide.

Rugby Union is becoming more southern centric. The southern clubs generally have greater resources and generally significantly better physical and commercial infrastructure than their northern rivals and this is probably the root cause of the decline of top-class rugby union north of Hinckley.

However, this cannot be said of tomorrow’s visitors Darlington Mowden Park who own and enjoy one of the finest rugby stadia in England at their 25,000 all seater Northern Echo Arena. Circled by a dozen or more hospitality boxes and with impressive conference facilities and escalators and lifts to transport visitors from venue to venue, DMP’s stadium is a beacon of ambition for Rugby Union clubs throughout England.

But this most impressive of stadiums does not inflate DMP away from its true nature as a community rugby club. Thriving mini, junior, women’s and social rugby are fundamental parts of the DMP rugby family which mark it out as a proper rugby club.

Of course, impressive stadia are common to both DMP and Caldy.

Caldy’s Paton Field ground with its expansive views across the river Dee to Wales is famous for its quaint but small wooden clubhouse and its bijou facilities. The ‘Wooden Shack’ was extensively but sympathetically refurbished during the first Covid lockdown. The club house windows can now be opened and more importantly shut without the window frames being dislodged from the fabric of the building and those void areas where only the presence of the thin wooden cladding slowed the biting winds from the Dee have been insulated with fresh straw.

Caldy and DMP have historically enjoyed competitive fixtures between them in both National 2 North and National 1. DMP’s promotion to National 1 in May 2014 paused the rivalry until Caldy joined them at level 3 in the 2017/18 season and then the normally tight matches resumed. 

Tomorrow is unlikely to be any different when Gary Law and his team visit Paton Field again. 

Whatever the outcome of the match they are assured of a warm and relatively draft free welcome in the clubhouse after the game. As it will be the 2^nd of October the fire may be lit.

Head Coach Matt Cairns has selected the following squad for the match which kicks off at Paton Field at 3 pm:

1. Rushton 2. Hearn 3. Parker 4. Gerrard 5. Sanders T 6. Ridgway 7. Aigbokhae 8. Dickinson 9. Ainscough 10. Wyman 11. Royle 12. Barlow 13. Titherington 14. Jones B 15. Gourlay 16. Sanders J 17. Clarke 18. Jones D 19. Davidson 20. Cartmill