That Friday Feeling – 3rd February 2023

International Honours for Will

Tonight, sees Will Robinson make his debut for Scotland U20’s against England on the wing. As far as I am aware Will Robinson will be the first player to represent a 6 Nations country in senior rugby union with Caldy as his home club. To quote Andrew Soutar, our 2nd team coach, “From the first time I saw him in a Caldy shirt I knew he was a special player. He has pace which is frightening and reminds me of a young Nick Royle.” You don’t get higher praise than that from Sooty, although his balanced running has also been compared to Caldy Legend, Gavin Roberts as well.

Well done Will! According to Sooty Will is always asking advice on how he can get better and asking to stay out after training with our coaches to help him improve further. Will has played most of his rugby so far for our 2nd XV and has been a big part of the 2nd team not having lost for very nearly 3 years. I watched the video of Will scoring 7 tries against Sandbach earlier this season and it was clear he has something special. Sooty and CJ have built a great culture in our 2nd team and will be extremely proud of Will’s achievement.

On the bench for England U20’s is Nye Thomas, who has featured at scrum half for us over the last 2 seasons. Well done, Nye! It will be good to see Will and Nye on the pitch at the same time playing against each other.

Next week will also see Andy Darlington represent Holland against Georgia. I am sure it will be a tremendous test upfront for Georgia against Andy! Well done, Andy!

Ollie Hearn Championship Player of the Month.

Ollie Hearn has been voted the Championship Player of the Month for January. Having scored an amazing 5 tries in the month and been an integral part of the in – form Club in the Championship’s winning run, a very deserving winner. Well done, Ollie!

And well done to all who have played for Caldy on this great run! In the Q&A before the Bedford game when Lewis was questioning Matt Cairns, he made the point that the Caldy Ravers had not lost when he had played this season. With Lewis having returned from a long – term injury and fighting his way back into the team, Jack Parker returning and Louis Beer getting his chance I believe we have 3 unbeaten players in the Championship. And great competition for places is building for the rest of the season.

I think it is fair to say that if they had Coach of the Month then Matt Cairns and Rich Vasey would have bene the winners for January. Well done, Matt and Rich!

Caldy Beat Bedford

In what was described by many people as the greatest game ever played at Paton Field, Caldy Ravers registered a great win against Bedford. Having dominated upfront in the 2nd half the exciting handling and running of the Bedford team saw them pull away. With changes from the bench the last 30 minutes saw Caldy going from dominating forward play to exciting back play. A great spectacle and well done to our coaches for changing the game so dramatically. And well done to our coaches for making the changes to our game plan.

As great a game as it was I am not sure that for sheer tension and intensity the Sale FC game doesn’t still hold the title of greatest game. How lucky we are there to be seeing such great rugby at Caldy. I was standing next to 2 former players, Ken Hanna and Alan Naylor, during the game and they hadn’t been up to Caldy for several years. They are regulars at Twickenham though and one comment they made was that watching Caldy against Beford was better than watching England play. We have all known that for years but good to hear others say it.

Thanks to Sean Parkinson who flew over from Florida to sponsor the game! I am sure the trip was well worth it!

The Cup Returns

After 4 wins on the bounce and 5 out of 6 in the Championship the Cup returns. In a Group with Cornish Pirates, Ampthill, and Richmond the return legs are played over the next 3 weeks. For us it is a shame that the momentum we had in the Championship will be lost but the Cup gives a great opportunity for players to step into the 1st XV and show their talents.

This week the Ravers are away at The Mob – otherwise known as Ampthill. A very friendly club that have showed us at Caldy how a Club can make the step up into the Championship from humbler beginnings. Always a great place to visit and we have had some great battles with Ampthill over the years both in the National Leagues and this year the Championship.

The Caldy 1st XV to play Ampthill is: Jack Parker, Tom Clarke, Ryan Higginson, Martin Gerrard, Sam Olyott, Harrison Crowe, Nyle Davidson, Calum Ridgway, Joe Murray, Lewis Barker, Ben Jones, Ezra Hinchcliffe, Dan Bibby, Mike Cartmill, Rhys Hayes. Subs: Nathan Rushton, Ted Stagg, Andy Darlington, Sam Dickinson, JJ Dickinson, Chris Pilgrim, Mike Barlow, Louis Beer

It is great to see Ted Stagg returning to 1st team action after a long lay off due to injuries and what a strong bench we have.

The game will be streamed to the Caldy Clubhouse from 2pm, so if you can’t get to Ampthill get down to Caldy to watch the streamed game followed by England playing Scotland. The bar is open from 1pm and food available. There is a special offer of Chicken Curry and rice/chips during the England game available for £2.50.

Caldy 2’s at Home to Sedgeley Park

A game against one of the strong sides at 2nd team level on Saturday at 1.15pm is yet another test for our successful 2nd team. The team is: Mich Bretherton, Joe Sanders, Will Sanderson, Adam Kelly, Nathan Ovien, Dave Jones, Tom Parry, Ryen Spencer – Wolfe, Jacob Ainscough, Alex White, Max Jones, Tom Fletcher, Toby Elkerton, Ben Eaves, Callum Doherty,. Subs: James Holmes, George Hassall, Freddie Stevenson, Alex Gaughan, Connor Windell, Joe Greenway

With Wilmslow pulling out of the Final of the Cheshire Vase, they have been replaced by Chester. The game will be played under the lights at Chester on Wednesday 15th February 2023 and it will be a double header as our 2nd team were due to play Chester at home on the Saturday in the league. If you can, get down to Chester and support our boys!

Buy a Bench

Spectators will have seen that this season we have new benches available. For £150 you can purchase a bench at the Club and have a plaque put on it. A great way to remember someone or to help the club. If you are interested contact John Wylie on john.wylie@hotmail.co.uk or 07845 22 8564