Light winds, sunny intervals with no chance of rain is the perfect weather forecast for…
A View from JJ’s Bank
| 1st xv result – Caldy 15 – 33 Doncaster 2nd xv Cup Final – Sedgley Park 24 – 28 Caldy 3rd xv Bowl Final – Marple 46 – 15 Caldy u17 Cup Final – Chester 41 – 12 Caldy |
| The Championship The Rugby Paper match report – John Lyon Caldy ………………….. 15pts Tries: Hearn 17, Gallagher 60 Conversion: Barker 17 Penalty: Barker 39 Doncaster ………….. 33pts Tries: Bennett 2, Roberts 36, Olowofela 48, Cross 56, Tait 74 Conversions: Dolly 36, 48, 56, 74 A warm and sunny day but Caldy were caught cold when some individual brilliance by the Knight’s Russ Bennett put the visitors ahead after only 2 minutes. Fielding a wayward Caldy kick, the playmaker chipped over the Caldy winger, fielded his kick on the full and raced in from halfway. However, this early score was not the template for the game. The Wirral side hit back through a Dom Hanson try after a driven line out by the hosts, converted by Lewis Barker to take a narrow lead. Both sides were playing an entertaining fast paced game with the chip kick being the favoured tactic by both sides to try and break the midfield deadlock. It took until the 37th minute for Doncaster’s full-time professionals to get ahead. A missed Caldy touch kick from a penalty gave possession and a soft score for Doncaster hooker Peter Roberts before a scything 40 metre break by Matt Kilcourse should have been better rewarded than just a Lewis Barker penalty after Knights had resorted to a high tackle to stop the young full back. This was an enthralling contest, and the sides went in at the break with a slender lead to the Knights at 10-12. Strong carries by the forwards, particularly through Monty Weatherby and Joe Sproston, were getting the home side over the gain line. There were further opportunities for the Ravers but either the final pass or an unkind bounce stymied promising moves. Although the committed scrambling defence by Caldy’s young back line had kept the visitors at bay eventually the elastic could stretch no further. The Knights bagged two scores in the 3rd quarter through full back Kehinde Olowofela and winger Aidan Cross to extend their advantage and bring up their bonus point score. But although now trailing 10-26 the Ravers were not done. They hit back with a try by Matt Gallagher to keep the game in the balance at 15-26 until a couple of controversial decisions brought about a 14-point swing. Another break from deep within the Caldy half by Matt Kilcourse seemed certain to provide a converted score for the Ravers. With the Yorkshire side struggling to chase down Caldy’s effervescent young backs, and the line at their mercy, the assistant referee belatedly intervened to declare a knock on by Caldy moments earlier in the move. The let off for Doncaster galvanized their efforts and with only a minute or so to go the visitors snatched a somewhat fortunate fifth try by Rhys Tait from a driving maul. Caldy prop Joe Sproston, who has represented both clubs, considered the game to be significantly closer than the final score suggested. “The final score line doesn’t reflect the tightness of the game. Donny are in a rich vein of form right now and clearly planning for a big season next year. Their full-time status gives them the edge and small mistakes by us were punished. Today five of our backline were 21 or under with very little senior experience. They really stood up well against a top side.”    Images – Barry Macdonald Caldy : Kilcourse, Royle (Carroll 66) Hyde, Mitchell, Robinson, Barker (Rogers 74), Hanson (Wynn 56) Weatherby (Higginson 74) Hearn (Gallagher 56), Sproston, (Harper 56) Sanders, Stevenson, Ridgway (Olyott 74) Jones (Parry 14) Dickinson Doncaster : Olowofela, Cross (Metcalfe 77), Kerr, Edwards (Bunting 10), Ene (Fox 68) , Bennet, Dolly, Davidson (Turner 23), Roberts (Chapman 56), Mulipola (Thiede 36), Murphy (Hume 77), Hopkinson, Smeaton, Tait, Strong (McGuire 74) Referee : Alex Thomas Attendance: 1,452 Star player Bennett – Doncaster – NOWIRUL Primo Drinks Cup Final Sedgley Park 2nd xv …….. 24pts Caldy 2nd xv …………………. 28pts Match report – John Lyon For possibly the first time in 5 or 6 seasons Caldy’s all-conquering 2nd xv went into a game as firm underdogs. The Primo Drinks Cup Final held at New Brighton RFC pitched the young Ravers against Sedgley Park. The North Manchester side were the last team to beat Caldy at 2nd xv level with that contest ending in a narrow 22-17 victory to Sedge just the 122 matches ago back in April 2019 ! However, this Cup Final promised to be somewhat different. Ordinarily the fact that a number of 2nd xv players had been called up for 1st xv action against Doncaster Knights wouldn’t significantly diminish the 2nd xv’s prospects. Saturday was hugely challenging. Sedgley Park’s National 1 season finished the previous weekend. Without a 1st xv fixture and their 2nd xv being apparently impacted by a long standing ‘stag weekend’ booking, Sedge Tigers had courteously advised Caldy in advance that they would need to bolster their 2nd xv squad with a clutch of 1st xv players. Sedge were true to their word ! The Sedgley Park 1st xv contingent included among others a bevy of Sedgley Tigers’ star players. Former Sale Sharks giant 2nd row Tom Ailes, National One’s leading try scorer winger Rhys Henderson and 100 cap loose head prop Jon Blanchard were among the very experienced players included in the Sedge lineup. That a young Caldy 2nd xv won through was in itself a significant achievement, but the fact that Caldy dominated in defence and up front was testament to the huge commitment of the entire squad. Coaches Andrew Soutar and Christian Jones, who in the 2018 season came together to manage and coach the 2nd xv, couldn’t be prouder of the teams’ performance in this gritty and resilient Cup Final win. “When its easy, its easy, but today everyone in the squad stood up to be counted” said an emotional Christian Jones “from young Ben Leek who stepped up from the 3rd xv to the old campaigners Paul Lewis and Matt Ibbotson. Everyone gave everything they could. This is probably the squads’ finest moment and over the last 5 or 6 seasons there have been a lot of fine moments to pick from.” This total commitment was obvious especially when glancing at Liverpool University student Eddie Banks’ bruised and swollen face, courtesy of a broken eye socket. These young and not so young Ravers left everything out on the pitch. It was just too much for a very talented and experienced Sedgley Tigers side to contend with. Inside centre Lucas Wiggins scored a hat trick with promising scrum half James Pickering also bagging a score. Standoff Charlie Attis, who together with full back Dan Rabbette exerted control through their fine kicking game, immaculately slotted all the conversions. But it was upfront where the crucial battles were won. The outstanding Matt Rabbette with front row colleagues Jack Ellam and Matt Ibbotson provided the platform with a dominant scrum performance. Together with the rest of the forwards this outstanding Ravers pack was magnificent. Winning a 2025 League and Cup double with a perfect performance is the latest achievement for Sooty and CJ. Their custody of the 2nd xv has produced spectacular results. Not only this extraordinary 123 game unbeaten record but also the conveyer belt of young players who have passed through their hands in the 2nd xv and gone on to play Championship rugby in Caldy’s 1st xv. “Many of this squad will go on to play Championship level rugby at Caldy. Our prime focus is to produce young and sometimes not so young players who are capable of playing at Championship standard and above” said Andrew Soutar “we are a very accessible and inclusive club, with a pathway from the minis all the way through to the Championship. Today 18-year-old winger Dylan Carroll made his debut in the Championship against Doncaster Knights and earlier this season 37-year-old prop Matt Ibbotson played against Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership Cup. This is what the Ravers are all about.” Just Remarkable !  Caldy 2nd xv Cup winning squad  Cup winning brothers Matty & Dan Rabbette with the trophies  Caldy coaches CJ & Sooty with the Barry Allen Memorial Cup & Plaque Images – Andrew Soutar – NOWIRUL Primo Drinks Bowl Final Marple 1st xv ……….. 46pts Caldy 3rd xv …………. 15pts Match report – Liam Devaney The Rav3rs travelled to New Brighton for their Cup Final after a long and hard season and came up short after a valiant performance. The Rav3rs ended the final with 13 players and 4 forwards in the backs, for the last 20 minutes of the game, which saw the guests run in 4 tries to rack up a score, that wasn’t a true reflection of the game. A successful first season of competitive League and Cup rugby, finishing 4th in the league and reaching a Cup Final, a credit to all of the lads who turned out for the team and the management team who scrambled to field a team for every fixture bar one. Hopefully this gives the club a platform for future years to transfer colts into men’s rugby, as well as giving the club greater depth to field the 1st xv and 2nd xv competitively, without losing players to lower league neighbours. – Rugby coming up this Friday : Caldy 1st xv away The Bay, Friday 9th May The Championship Nottingham v Caldy kick off 7.45pm Rugby at home the following weekend : Caldy 1st xv at Paton Field Saturday 17th May The Championship Caldy v Ealing Trailfinders kick off 3.00pm Tickets are available to buy via our club website : https://caldyrugbyclub.com/buy-tickets-membership/ – u17 Junior Colts League Cup Final Chester u17s Junior Colts ….. 41pts Caldy u17s Junior Colts …….. 12pts Match report – Paul Clark Last Sunday our Junior Colts went up against our old rivals Chester in the North West Halbro League Cup Final, hosted at Heaton Moor. Having ended up second to Chester in League A, we knew we had a tough assignment ahead of us and we would need to play to all our strengths to win. Chester came flying out of the blocks and with early 50:50 decisions going against us, we pushed back through successive penalties, with Chester taking advantage achieving a 12-0 lead. Our forwards then started to gain some ascendancy in the scrum and making hard yards off rucks and we enjoyed some considerable pressure up to half time. An excellent charge down and score from Luke Macdonald brought the score back to 12-5 at half time, but having been held up a couple of times, we perhaps didn’t bring all our pressure to bear. Sadly we didn’t maintain our momentum into the 2nd half, as Chester switched their attack to kicking long and moving the ball wide, swiftly scoring 3 tries at the start of the second half. The game was done at that point but the lads battled hard right to the end, scoring the last try of the day through Louis Hayes-Green, with the JCs eventually losing 41-12. Congratulations to Chester who have set the standard for us as we move forward to Senior Colts. We are incredibly proud of all 19 lads who battled their way through the season – the Cup Final was perhaps one game too far ! With a number of excellent new players already joining Caldy for Senior Colts next season, we are very excited about the future and look forward to bringing home more Silverware following the Cheshire Bowl win last Sunday.    Images – Barry Macdonald – u15 Cheshire Bowl Final Caldy u15s ……………………… 24pts Winnington Park u15s …….. 21pts  Caldy u15s Cheshire Bowl Final winning squad Image – Jo Woodley – u14 Cheshire Plate Final Caldy u14s ……………………… 22pts Sandbach u14s ………………. 19pts  Caldy u14s Cheshire Plate Final winning squad Image – Katy Smith – Men’s Mental Health Boot Camp at Caldy RFC Every Wednesday 7:30pm Please feel free to join Duncan Hendry’s Men’s Mental Health Boot Camp at the club. There is no charge and it is open to all, members or not. The activities cater for a wide range of abilities and people can work as hard or little as they like. Clearly there are the physical health benefits but more importantly are the mental and social benefits as it connects men and provides an opportunity to talk. Duncan is a semi retired PE teacher, now coaching sport at Calday Grange Grammar School and former Caldy 1st xv player who still laces up his boots occasionally on a Saturday at Caldy RFC.  Image – Duncan Hendry |
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