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Match Report – Rosslyn Park 17 – Caldy 18

Last Saturday was a bright sunny day in London and Caldy with a vociferous band of some 300+ supporters were in the Capital to play 2nd placed promotion favourites Rosslyn Park. It promised to be a big match in the National One season. It was.

The Wirral side had never won at Rosslyn Park’s famous ground ‘The Rock’ and with warm Spring weather on a 4g surface it was going to be a huge challenge. The conditions, the 4g pitch, a home crowd of some 1,200, everything favoured the muscular and athletic Rosslyn Park side, and the Ravers knew it.

The first 5 minutes were all Caldy. The kitchen sink and the kitchen table were thrown at Park. A piece of quick thinking saw the remarkable Ollie Hearn, who later embellished his status with an extraordinary 50:22 touch kick, sprint up the wing. Although the hooker was halted 5 metres from the line, the break had caused panic. Scrum half Joe Murray disregarded the penalty advantage setting up winger Elliot Gourlay who chipped the ball to the National League’s most potent try scorer Nick Royle. 5-0 to Caldy.

Ezra Hinchcliffe put another 3 points on the board for Caldy before a try by Park just before the break brought the score to 7-8 at the interval.

The second half was all consuming. An early penalty by Hinchcliffe marginally stretched Caldy’s lead to 7-11 but it was still as tight as…. On 50 minutes Park speedster Marfo was correctly dismissed for foul play and as often happens Rosslyn Park were galvanised. A converted try and a penalty pushed them into a 17-11 lead, but under the posts awaiting the penalty everything was calm in the Caldy huddle. They all knew their jobs and there was no reason to alter the game plan.

The decisive moment in the game was delivered by Ryan Higginson halfway through the second period. The burly prop made an incisive 15 metre midfield break before offloading to the Caldy back line, sending powerhouse centre Lucas Titherington in under the posts for what became the winning score.

For the last 20 minutes Caldy pinned the home side in their 22. There was no way through the Caldy defensive cordon and with the clock ticking down Rosslyn Park were clearly fearful of kicking away possession. The final whistle was well celebrated by the Ravers and their euphoric supporters.

This was a committed team performance from the Ravers. Stonewall defence combined with incisive attacking play won the day against a fine and resilient Rosslyn Park side. It was a tremendous advert for National 1 rugby and kept the 1,200 spectators at the Rock and the many Caldy fans watching the live stream in the Caldy clubhouse, gripped until the final whistle.

There were any number of Caldy players who could have received the man of the match award. The Rugby Paper awarded hooker Ollie Hearn their star man accolade for his industry and moments of outrageous ability. National League Rugby gave Caldy centre ‘Irish’ Mike Cartmill, who should be renamed ‘Iron Mike’ for his brick wall defence, the accolade of National League Player of the Week.

The final accolade to the whole Caldy squad came from a Rosslyn Park supporter Nick Lawson who described Caldy on their website as “the best visiting team in a few years I’d say – very strong, well drilled, and aggressive”

Caldy’s Director of Rugby Gareth Davies acknowledged the plaudits from his side’s win in the Capital but cautioned that there were still three very tough fixtures to go before the end of the season.

“It just shows how far great teamwork and togetherness can take you. However, we have three very big games to go with the next match at home this Saturday against a resurgent Bishop Stortford. We have never beaten Bishop Stortford at Paton Field and they are a side very much on the up. As with all teams in this league they will present a very stern challenge. We will need the same effort and performance at home against them or the win against Rosslyn Park will count for little.”

Effervescent Caldy scrum half Joe Murray agreed with the Caldy DOR but was also keen to reinforce the togetherness and commitment of the entire Caldy squad.

Last week’s game against Rosslyn Park was as tight and intense a game as we have played all season. To come away with an 18-17 win was testament to our squad, the coaching staff, and our travelling support. Rosslyn Park are a very big side, and they had a thousand or so of their own supporters behind them. Their dangerous runners were difficult to stop on their 4g surface, but our defence was exceptional. We scored two great tries of our own through Nick Royle and Lucas Titherington, but it truly was a whole squad performance”

Joe Murray is hoping for a large home support this week for an exceptionally tough match against Bishop Stortford to maintain Caldy’s momentum.

“Last week in London we had three hundred or so Caldy supporters and it made a huge impact, it gave us that extra 5% which makes all the difference at this level. It is very tight at the top of the league. Bishop Stortford is a very good side; it was a very close game earlier in the season. They are an attacking side and I expect it to be another enthralling close game on Saturday. I hope we can get our home support out in force. It makes a massive difference”

Caldy v Bishop Stortford Saturday 9th April at Paton Field with a 3 pm kick off.

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