Some two plus decades ago the last printed history of Caldy RFC was published by…
A View from JJ’s Bank
| 1st xv result – Ealing 38 – 0 Caldy 2nd xv result – Caldy 43 – 19 Chester 3rd xv result – Sefton 2nd 19 – 52 Caldy |
| Champ Rugby round 9 – Saturday 6th December 2025 The Rugby Paper report by Joseph Terry, images thanks to Kieran Free Ealing ….……… 38 pts Tries: Gwynn 6, de Wee 27, Cornish 36, Wilson 41, Dykes 58, Buckley 72 Conversions: Jones 7, 28, 41; Scannell 73 Caldy ………. 0 pts Leaders Ealing Trailfinders extended their unbeaten streak to nine league games this season with a controlled perfomance in wet and windy conditions. They scored six tries from Geordie Gwynn, Bobby De Wee, Matt Cornish, Toby Wilson, Michael Dykes and Scott Buckley – and solid defence kept Caldy pointless, while the visitors were handed three yellow cards. Trailfinders director of rugby Ben Ward said: “We wanted the game at pace and we probably won the game at pace. I thought in the first half we were really clicking.” Trailfinders pressure on the first scrum drew the opening try for Gwynn. Michael Dykes broke the line and unlocked de Wee who was tackled and dragged into touch. After two scrum resets on the five-metre line, Ealing forced the defensive hole on the third for Gwynn to touch down. De Wee doubled the advantage as Caldy were reduced to 14. Matas Jurevicius broke the line and made 25 metres before being tackled metres away, Matt Gallagher was sin binned for repeated infringements, and after multiple scrums, Ealing elected a tap-and-go and De Wee powered over. Cornish added the third try from a 22-metre catch and drive. Kyle Hatherell drove to within seven metres of the line and Cornish dotted down in the right corner for a 19-0 lead at the break. The defending champions faced injury worries as loosehead Lefty Zigiriadis was substituted, wearing heavy strapping to his knee and thigh. Nevertheless, Toby Wilson collected the bonus point, scoring with his second touch of the ball early in the second half. The Ravers also faced injuries as full-back Matt Kilcourse was helped off the pitch, quickly followed by Monty Weatherby who was sin binned after redzone penalties. Dykes soon scored the fifth try sneaking through the defence before the visitors were handed a third yellow card as Lewis Barker was binned for penalties close to the try line as Caldy’s discipline fell apart. Buckley finished the sixth Ealing try from a rolling maul. Caldy coach Matt Cairns said: “Our boys were put to task and they never gave up, fought for 80 minutes. I’ll review the yellow cards, they’re something we’re used to.” Ealing : Dykes, Moore, Gwynn, Holgate, Campbell (Wilson 40), Jones (Scannell 63), Hampson (Edwards 58), Zigiriadis (Chilvers 40), Cornish (Buckley 51), Davis (Nicol 51), De Wee (Irvine 59), Jurevicius, Hatherell, Taylor (c) (Farrar 58), Bridge Caldy : Kilcourse (Hyde 42), Tudor, Robinson, C Wilkinson, Ene, K Wilkinson (Barker 58), Thomas (Wynn 58), Weatherby, Gallagher (c) (Hearn 50), Sproston (Higginson 50), Loboda, Olyott (Gerrard 71), Ridgway, Jones (Rushton 46), Logan Referee: Jamie Parr Attendance : 1,200 –  Our Front-Row Powerhouse, Monty Weatherby claims our November Player of the Month award with 30.8% of votes. Cheshire Farmer, Monty, has been ploughing through opposition all month. Strong as an Ox at scrum time with a ridiculous engine, who is turning into somewhat of a crowd favourite. He is also formidable around the park in both defence and attack. A quality all-round player who sets the tone every single week for the Ravers. Keep leading from the front, Monty ! – NOWIRUL Premier League Caldy 2nd xv …………… 43 pts Chester 2nd xv …………. 19 pts Tries: Tom Akehurst, Dan Rabbette, Isaac Hardisty, Jaco Oosthuyzen, Lucas Wiggins x 2, Jack Wilson Conversions: Dan Rabbette x 4 Caldy 2nd xv delivered another impressive performance securing a home win against local rivals Chester 2nd xv making it 10 out of 10 this season to remain unbeaten and top of the Premier League table leading second placed Preston Grasshoppers 2nd xv by 3 points. Caldy 2nd xv’s unbeaten record is now 132 games in all competitions since April 2019. Next up is away against 4th placed Stockport 2nd xv a week on Saturday 20th December.     Images thanks to Barry MacDonald – NOWIRUL Div 3 West Sefton 2nd xv …………… 19 pts Caldy 3rd xv .…………….. 52 pts Match report & image thanks to Dave Arthur With players dealing with flat tyres in Oldham, road closures in Wirral and a last minute cry-off, a dishevelled band of just 11 players and some bedraggled managers stood outside the Sefton clubhouse in the falling rain, as our hosts sought the vital key that could at least give access to the changies. Under an hour to go, the tyre had been fixed and the traffic cleared and numbers had risen to 14. Paul MacDonald, designated driver for son Luke for the day’s entertainment, was then cajoled into playing. A pair of boots from Penno, shorts from Dave Arthur and when a frantic dive into the classic, retro blue Adidas bag delivered a boil in the bag gumshield, he was all set: we were up to 15. Playing up the slight incline, into the wind and intermittent rain, Caldy started well and then got better. As the half progressed, some wonderful running rugby, involving both forwards and backs, saw Caldy playing in the wide channels and tries were scored to give a satisfactory lead at half time. Sylvain Pennington scored the opener, before Harri Williams repeated the feat with Felix Clarke kicking the extras. A penalty try was awarded for a high tackle, in the in-goal area, which was novel, before Sefton got on the board, as Caldy lost concentration. Luke MacDonald steadied the ship with Felix converting. Tom Marray in his usual rumbustious style, finished off another strong attack and the conversion saw Caldy leading 5-33 at half time. Discipline was key and Sefton had got on the wrong side of referee and former Nottingham stalwart, Andy Eyre. To be fair, Andy was keen on his whistle, but Caldy weren’t complaining. Sefton were – and found themselves marched back 10m several times and eventually lost a player to the bin for offering the referee too much advice. Lacking a front row, Caldy had had to request uncontested scrums, but this made for a fast, open game and Sefton couldn’t cope. Handling in tough conditions was impressive with few passes going to ground; even high, wide passes, in the style of Finn Russell, stuck. Sadly, Mr Eyre tended to take a fairly (or perhaps unfairly) strict view on the possibility of passes having gone forward. Felix threw some belting long balls during the game, putting team mates into space, that were deemed forward, perhaps a little harshly. A couple of such moves opened up the Sefton back field, only for the whistle to pull the lads back, but it was terrific to watch. Keeping it tight most of the time, Sefton usually sought to drive up the middle, but Caldy’s defence had been resolute. In one first half phase, Dave Edge made a strong tackle, released the player, jackalled, got rolled, leapt to his feet and made another tackle all within moments. It was a typical of the commitment shown by each and every Caldy player. Sefton caught the lads cold just after half time, 12 – 33. However, Caldy responded by exploiting the yellow-card-induced absence of Sefton’s left wing, running the ball up the short side, from about 10m from our own line. Adam Horrocks was having a fine game at 9 and he put Leo Grist-Corf away into space up the right wing. Leo reached the opposition 22, before feeding inside. Harri Williams attacked up the middle with some good footwork, before quickly re-cycled ball saw Luke MacDonald score in the far left hand corner. “Great stuff !”, covering the length and then the breadth of the field. The points gap was restored by Felix, at 12 – 40. Sefton didn’t disappear though and whenever Caldy concentration slipped, they had come back at us, scoring a couple of tries. So things became a tad interesting, as, part way through the second half, we suffered a couple of yellow cards within 2 minutes of each other, both for “high tackles” on what the referee himself declared to be falling players, which seemed a little harsh. We played with 13 for 8 minutes. Sefton had scored twice in succession and the score now stood at 19 – 40. Having surrendered good leads in recent games, the lads understandably, became a little anxious, despite the clear evidence that Sefton couldn’t live with the speed and accuracy of Caldy’s running rugby. Sefton felt they might yet get something from the game. As the half progressed, Sefton had become a little desperate to cut the ball off and were ever more frequently and ever further offside behind the referee. Now, Felix cleverly exploited their over-commitment, when, at a 5m scrum, the defensive line rushed forward early, in an attempted blitz. He allowed them time to over-run his position, before deftly stepping back inside his opposite number and touching down under the posts. We managed a further score when skipper, Shanners, put a grubber kick in behind the on-rushing defence and Harri touched down. Nerves had by now been firmly dispelled. Each and every one of the players delivered in spades to a very convincing performance, from senior all-stars, like Paul Mac, Edgie and the immaculate skipper, Tom Shanahan, to debutant Kit Austin, who made a great start to his adult rugby career. If pushed hard to pick out one performance, then I suspect most would name Luke MacDonald, who put in a really impressive stint, both sides of the ball; but I think Luke would agree that above all, and clichés to one side, it was a splendid team performance. Bring on Crosby St. Mary’s next week !  Rav3rs left to right : Luke MacDonald, Grant Wratten, Rob Smith, Paul MacDonald Caldy Rav3rs xv : Harry Evans, Grant Wratten, Rob Smith, Luke MacDonald, Paul MacDonald, Dave Edge, Kit Austin, Tom Marray, Adam Horrocks, Felix Clarke, Sylvain Pennington, Tom Shanahan, Harri Williams, Leo Grist-Corf, Conor Lloyd-Jones – Rugby coming up  Image – Francesca Rowley Saturday 13th December – Champ Rugby round 10 Caldy v Coventry kick off 2.00pm at Paton Field The run-in to Christmas starts here at Paton Field and we need our fans out in full force. Two massive Champ Rugby home games in December and every voice, every clap, every roar counts. Wrap up warm, bring your mates, bring the noise, and let’s turn Paton Field into a fortress this festive season. Match Tickets are available to buy here : https://caldyrugbyclub.com/buy-tickets-membership/ Hospitality available for more details & bookings please contact Kenzie email : [email protected] Saturday 13th December – NOWIRUL Div 3 West Caldy 3rd xv v Crosby St Mary’s kick off 2.00pm at Paton Field – Sunday 14th December – Halbro NW Senior Colts Conference League A Newport (Salop) u18s v Caldy u18s kick off 2.00pm at Old Chapel Queens Road, Telford TF2 8DB Sunday 14th December – Halbro NW Junior Colts Conference League A Caldy u17s v Sandbach u17s kick off 12.30pm at Paton Field |
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