Match Report – Caldy 19 – Nottingham 27

Senior Summary – Saturday 24^th September

Caldy 1^st xv 19 v Nottingham 1^st xv 27       

The start of Caldy’s second home game in the Championship against Nottingham RFC was delayed for an hour after the contracted ambulance and paramedics failed to show. The problem, which was not of Caldy’s making, arose because the 29^{th of} September rather than 24^th September had been inadvertently entered into the private medical company’s system.

Craig Hammond Head Coach of Nottingham RFC acknowledged his team’s good fortune as they sneaked the win at Paton Field. “Last season we wouldn’t have won that game. It shows the progress we have made that we can come back in the final minutes against a strong side to close it out. It was a real arm wrestle though”

Caldy had started the better, with their pack driving for the line it seemed likely the home side would open the scoring, but a ripped ball gave possession to Nottingham who went the length of the field with Liam Slatem scoring under the posts, converted by Sam Hollingsworth.

The score invigorated the visitors. Powerful centre Javiah Pohe was punching holes in midfield, and it took brilliant tackles by Caldy’s Mike Cartmill and Sam Dickinson to prevent further scoreboard damage. A couple of penalties by Ezra Hinchcliffe brought Caldy back into the game but a wayward pass in a period of Caldy dominance was snaffled by speedster Taiye Olowofela who went 85 metres unopposed to score.

Caldy did hit back moments later with a catch and drive score by Adam Aigbokhae to leave the score at the interval 11-14

The second half was dominated by Caldy. Although initially Hollingsworth stretched the Nottingham lead with a penalty, a try by JJ Dickinson and a penalty by Hinchcliffe took Caldy into a slim 19-17 lead. However, in truth this was scant reward for Caldy’s forward superiority. Wayward kicking and some wrong options by the home side were keeping Nottingham in a contest that by this stage should have been beyond them. When the chance arose, the Archers took it.

With a couple of minutes to go and the visitors attacking the 22-metre line Caldy won a scrum penalty. It should have been enough to see the game out for the win, but from the ensuing line out a touch finder missed its mark and a delighted Harry Graham raced in to score under the posts.

19-24 and a Notts win and a losing bonus point for Caldy would have been a disappointing reverse for the home side but worse was to come. An infringement at the restart cost Caldy another 3 points the game finishing 19-27 to Nottingham. It was a cruel twist for the Ravers who on the 77-minute mark seemed assured of a second consecutive Championship win.

Caldy’s Head Coach was philosophical about the result “It was obviously disappointing to lose a game in that fashion. At this level, any mistake is punished, and we just made too many today. Despite the loss we are showing that we are competitive at this level, we just need to be more accurate in our execution. We will regroup and improve”

Other senior results

Caldy’s 2^nd xv scored an impressive 52-7 win in the 12 team Halbro Northwest Premier league away at unbeaten Blackburn. 24 year old centre Tom Fletcher scored 4 tries. The win sees unbeaten Caldy in 4^th place by virtue of playing only 3 games so far, compared to the 4 games played by the teams ahead of them.

Caldy’s 3^rd xv were beaten 24-33 by Ramsey’s 1^st xv. Caldy had a squad of 31 players to face the Manx team but were unable to capitalise on the extensive combined 90+ years of senior rugby playing experience of Jon Bagley, Paul McDonald, and Robbie Harman.