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A View from JJ’s Bank

              1st xv result – Caldy 27 – 22 Nottingham
            2nd xv result – Caldy 77 – 19 Rossendale
          3rd xv result – Caldy 40 – 7 Oldershaw
Junior Colts result – Caldy 29 – 24 Waterloo  
Gallagher’s late brace proves key for Caldy
Match report – John Lyon, The Rugby Paper

Caldy……………………………. 27 pts
Tries: Woodman 21, Dickinson 32, Gallagher 70, 77 Conversions: Barker 32, 77
Penalties: Barker 39

Nottingham…………………. 22 pts
Tries: Owen 35, Christian–Goss 46, Tweedy 55 Conversions: Arden 35, 46
Penalties: Arden 24

After a mammoth effort by the Last of the Summer Wine gang aided by Jon Bagley’s Trustland Construction the collapsed drains and sinkholes were repaired and a very decent crowd of 1,850 could access Paton Field to support all three senior sides in their league fixtures. At the top of the fixture list was the Championship match against high flying Nottingham RFC. The Archers had won both previous Championship fixtures at Paton Field and with their pacy backs having shredded mighty Coventry in their previous fixture the betting odds and social media had anticipated a drubbing for the Ravers. It didn’t happen.

Caldy built upon recent improved performances against London Scottish and Ealing to record a bonus point win against fourth placed Nottingham in a thrilling battle at Paton Field. “It has been coming” Caldy’s director of rugby Gareth Davies said. “Getting some of our big, experienced players back from injury has made a difference. The severe weather since the Ealing game on the 28th of December meant we only had two training sessions since then. Winning today was important for the squad and builds confidence and belief that we are now on an upward trajectory.”A week of dry weather produced perfect conditions for fast running rugby and in the first half Caldy dominated possession and territory to control the tempo of the game. Impressive inside centre Connor Wilkinson continuously put the Ravers on the front foot and their big pack did the rest. Scores by Tristan Woodman and JJ Dickinson together with a penalty by Lewis Barker should have provided a substantial lead but poor defence from the restarts pegged them back through a penalty by Matthew Arden and a converted try from prop Kai Owen. A slender 15-10 lead at the break was a poor reward for the home side’s impressive first half performance.


Try time : Caldy’s Captain JJ Dickinson scores  
Image – The Rugby Paper

Nottingham, boosted by a few choice words of encouragement from their coaching staff, ( which largely revolved around the coaches’ disquiet that somehow their players were being outfought by the team at the bottom of the table ! ), grabbed the momentum at the start of the second with a score in the corner by centre Kegan Christian-Goss putting the visitors in the lead after the conversion by Arden. Being behind after such an impressive first half threatened to unravel the home side’s previously good discipline. As the penalty count mounted against them, a yellow card for Caldy’s Joe Sproston led to a further try for the Archers by open side Nathan Tweedy and at 15-22 down the Ravers were only just clinging on to a losing point.


Caldy’s Matt Kilcourse breaks the line   
Image – The Rugby Paper

The third shift of momentum came on 68 minutes after Notts replacement hooker Antonio Harris received a yellow card. Caldy took full advantage with replacement hooker Matt Gallagher scoring from a catch and drive to narrow the deficit to only two points. With still ten minutes left to play the Ravers threw everything into attack and scored the best try of the day. A scorching run by left winger Will Robinson put Gallagher in for his second score.


Speedster : Will Robinson breaks down the wing 
Image – The Rugby Paper

This was the most complete performance of the season from Caldy. Ollie Wynn and Lewis Barker kept a high tempo, and Connor Wilkinson repeatedly crossed the gain line to provide a focal point for the home pack who for most of the first half bossed the breakdown and the set piece. If Caldy can retain this form, they will surely pick up further wins in their remaining Championship fixtures.

Referee : Richard Gordon    Attendance: 1,850   
The Rugby Paper Star player  Connor Wilkinson – Caldy

2nd xv result – Caldy 77 – 19 Rossendale
Caldy’s 2nd xv recorded 77-19 points win over Rossendale’s 2nd xv to cement their place at the top of the Premier league with Fylde remaining in 2nd place 11 league points behind but with a game in hand over Caldy and on paper a better points scored total. Fylde 595 points scored against Caldy 453 points scored. However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. So far this season 10 matches have been conceded in the Premier League, of which seven have been conceded against Caldy and only one has been conceded against Fylde !
Adjusting for this very troubling statistic Caldy has scored on average sixty-five points per game and Fylde has scored an average of forty-five points per game.



Caldy 2nd xv free flowing rugby 
Images – Barry Macdonald

3rd xv result – Caldy 40 – 7 Oldershaw
The 3rd xv’s 40-7 win over Oldershaw keeps them at the top of the 3rd division West table tied on points with 2nd placed Ellesmere Port who have two games in hand on Caldy.



Caldy’s action packed Rav3rs
Images – Barry Macdonald

Ravers stat :
The last time Caldy had all three teams at home was 5th March 2016 against Sandal, Macclesfield & Warrington.
The last time Caldy won all three games at home was 30th March 2013 beating Preston 30-23, Stockport 77-0 & Whitchurch 47-26. 

u17s Junior Colts result – Caldy 29 – 24 Waterloo
Match report – Paul Clark
“The Junior Colts rounded off the quadruple weekend for the Ravers, with a dramatic last play try to beat Waterloo 29-24 and climb to the top the Halbro NW League A table !
Having not played for a month and a depleted squad due to long term injuries, the Junior Colts were going to need every ounce of grit and determination to beat a strong Waterloo side who were 3rd in the table. And so it proved in a humdinger of a match which swung one way and another throughout the 70 minutes.
Ravers took an early lead through a Jamie Arista penalty and the teams both scored tries before half time, Caldy’s through Rob Waring, with the Colts leading 10-5 at the turn. Caldy had been dominant at the set piece creating huge pressure at scrum and lineouts, but Waterloo were superb at the break down, often nullifying and turning over Caldy big ball carrying threat.
The second half saw Waterloo quickly on the attack and 5 tries were shared with Waterloo scoring their’s out wide and Caldy’s scored through their dominant front row with Oscar Song and Cameron Harper both touching down. With 3 minutes to go, Caldy were looking down the barrel, trailing 22-24 – with no subs and a couple hobbling across the pitch, the team set up a 13 phase drive up the pitch, with tight head prop Matthieu Sangare, crashing over as time was up. With a final conversion from Jamie Arista, the Colts won out 29-24 in a pulsating game.
All credit to Waterloo who played very well and pushed the Colts to the limit. Not our finest performance, but one of the most memorable – Ravers never give up !”


Caldy Junior Colts’ Mattie Sangare
Image – Barry Macdonald

Rugby coming up next weekend : 
Caldy 1st xv away Saturday 25th January
The Championship
Cambridge v Caldy kick off 2.00pm 

Caldy Rav3rs at Paton Field Saturday 25th January
NOWIRUL Primo Drinks Bowl Round 3 
Caldy v Birchfield kick off 2.15pm

Caldy u18s away at Wirral Sunday 26th January
Halbro NW Senior Colts League A
Wirral Gulls v Caldy kick off 2.00pm
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