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Friday Feeling – 14th January 2022

At the start of this season, Caldy narrowly lost the first game to Cinderford away from home but with an encouraging performance and the 1st xv squad seemed well prepped for the next match. This first home match back in National One was against one of the really big clubs in England, Birmingham Moseley RFC. 

The scheduling was perfect. Moseley had pipped Caldy for survival in National One in the final minutes of the final game of the 2019 season and everyone at Paton Field was excited about the rematch. It was going to be a tussle, but the home fans were confident and optimistic

On one of the most perfect of Autumn days, supported by a phalanx of former players and Caldy legends gathering at Paton Field for their annual reunion, the stage was set for a big occasion and a big performance from the Class of 2021. 

Then the wheels came off!

Caldy were thumped 0-24  by a substantially more energetic and accurate Moseley side which bested Caldy in absolutely every facet of the game. There were no excuses, a full strength Caldy side had been hammered and a successful return to National One suddenly looked to be a very daunting prospect. 

The grit, determination and very hard work put in by the squad and the coaching staff since that difficult day has been rewarded with a gradual move up the league, but the Ravers have had to scrap for every point. 

It was the same recipe last Saturday against a very good Cinderford side that enabled Caldy to squeak the win and post-match conversations with first time visiting supporters to Paton Field illuminated another immediate challenge that faces Caldy. As the visitors from the West Country pointed out with some humour – great pitch, great vista but the quaint but ageing clubhouse was surely very much on its very last legs. 

We are all extremely proud of how Caldy has repurposed, repatched, and reinvented the wooden shack. Bob Cooke’s honorary degree in Archaeology awarded by Liverpool University is a testament to this. 

The visiting supporters were right there is only so long that straw, petrified wood and roofing felt bonded together by various unidentifiable substances can continue to work in the 21st century. However, as one Cinderford wag did admit “it is clearly a very environmentally friendly structure as on a cold day there is little discernible difference between the internal environment and the external environment”

As most Caldy members and supporters will know, Caldy Sports Club has submitted a Planning Application to build a new clubhouse   https://caldyrugbyclub.com/caldy-new-proposed-club-house

The details on Wirral’s Planning Portal can either be viewed through the Caldy website as above or click on the link below: 

https://planning.wirral.gov.uk/onlineapplications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=_WIRRA_DCAPR_112568&activeTab=summary

Thanks to all members and supporters who have gone on the planning portal to register their support for the plans for a new club house. If any members or supporters of Caldy Rugby Club haven’t looked at the plans and registered their support on the portal we would please ask that you do so as soon as you are able to. It is a quick and easy thing to do and takes only a minute or two to formally register support.

The development of a new club house is much needed, and it does require the support of all our members and supporters. The more support we have for the proposals the more likely it will be that we get planning permission to build a new club house – it will be a legacy for the next 100 years of people playing sports at Paton Field

More grit, determination and hard work will be needed tomorrow as the squad journeys to the impressive ground at Billesley Common to face a rejuvenated Birmingham Moseley. Moseley are very much on the up after a good win away at Blackheath and some very impressive recent additions to bolster their squad. 

https://moseleyrugby.co.uk/season/2021-22season/blackheath-v-birmingham-moseley/

If there was ever a contrast between Caldy’s wooden shack and a modern National 1 set up Moseley’s Billesley Common ground and facilities has to be one of the foremost .

Head Coach Matt Cairns has selected the following squad for the away match against Birmingham Moseley RFC which kicks off at 3.00 p.m. at Billesley Common

1.Aigbokhae 2. Hearn 3. Parker 4. Dickinson S 5. Sanders T 6. Crowe 7. Ridgway 8. Dickinson JJ 9. Murray 10. Hinchcliffe 11. Royle 12. Barlow 13. Titherington 14. Jones B 15. Gourlay 16. Rushton 17. Higginson 18. Jones D 19. Gerrard 20. Cartmill

Caldy’s record-breaking 2nd xv have no game this week.

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