Caldy – That Friday Feeling 2nd May ’25

This weekend is a very big weekend for Caldy RFC. One Championship clash against full time professional side Doncaster Knights, and two cup finals for the Caldy 2^nd xv and 3^rd xv.

Caldy v Doncaster Knights at Paton Field
Two of it’s senior players, Connor Wilkinson and Nathan Rushton are unavailable for selection for the very challenging Championship fixture against Northern rivals Doncaster Knights. Connor and Nathan’s absence is not injury related but is for the joyous reason that both have been selected for the Barbarians. This is a first for Caldy RFC and a great honour for Nathan and Connor to be selected to play for probably the most famous rugby club in the world.

With Connor and Nathan unavailable together with a couple of other absences Head Coach Matt Cairns has selected a new centre partnership with Jacob Mitchell and Charlie Hyde providing the zip in midfield, and the elusive Dylan Carroll coming into the match day squad for his first experience of Championship rugby.

“Playing the full-time professional sides is always challenging but we are excited to see the impact that these young players can make stepping up into such an important fixture” said Cairns “In our last outing against Pirates we showed that through the development of our own squad Caldy RFC is competitive at Championship level and Jacob, Charlie and Dylan are testament to that. Caldy RFC has a really bright future”

Matt Cairns has selected the following squad for Saturday’s Championship fixture at Paton Field against Doncaster Knights which kicks off at 3.00 pm.

1. M Weatherby
2. O Hearn
3. J Sproston
4. F Stevenson
5. T Sanders
6. C Ridgway
7. J Jones
8. JJ Dickinson (c)
9. D Hanson
10.  L Barker
11.  W Robinson
12.  C Hyde
13.  J Mitchell
14.  N Royle
15.  M Kilcourse
16.  M Gallagher
17.  J Harper
18.  R Higginson
19.  S Olyott
20.  T Parry
21. S Rogers
22.  O Wynn
23.  D Carroll

The gates will be open at midday and you can buy your tickets for this Championship Fixture here : https://caldyrugbyclub.com/buy-tickets-membership/

Thank you to our u8s for volunteering to help with car parking, running the raffle and providing mascots for the big game ! Also we will be welcoming guests from Ramsey u13s & Doncaster u13s on Tour plus all our Caldy Minis following their end of season presentations. 

Everyone is welcome so please get yourself down to Paton Field to support the lads & enjoy community rugby at it’s best !

Caldy clubhouse Bar will be open from 12.00 noon tomorrow
Also outside bars and catering – Dough Bros, Burrito Shack & Ginger Cat 

Caldy Kitchen will be open from 2.00pm

plus live music “Harry James” in the marquee from 5pm – 7pm 

Image – Barry Macdonald

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Sedgley Park 2^nd xv v Caldy 2^nd xv in the Primo Drinks Cup Final
Caldy’s 2^nd xv take on one of their strongest rivals in the Primo Drinks Cup Final which is being held at New Brighton RFC on Saturday 3 May with an expected kick off time of circa 4.15 pm. Caldy’s inspirational 2^nd xv coach Andrew Soutar previews the game and gives his thoughts on the season below.

“As this will be the final game of the 2024-25 season for both Caldy 2^nd xv and Sedgley Park 2^nd xv I hope that all players / coaches / volunteers and referees get to enjoy their day and have a drink together afterwards.

Caldy, who are known as the little shack upon the hill, have had a good season in the Championship on and off the field. Plans have been submitted to transform the clubhouse and changing rooms. The 1st xv have surprised a lot of people across the country with their results in The Championship over the past couple of seasons. However, this is no surprise to myself, as I know how hard the key people within the club such as Gareth Davies (DOR), Matt Cairns (Head Coach), Richard Vasey (Backs Coach) and Christian Jones (2nd xv Coach) have worked to make the club attractive for players on and off the pitch. As with most rugby clubs in today’s world, this could not be done without the sponsors of Caldy and I thank them for the continued investment they put in for the Senior Squad. 

We have played Sedge once this season, in our second game. It was a close game won narrowly by Caldy. Sedge’s senior coaching team of Scott Barrow, Jonny Roddam, Dave Livesey and Stephen Briers have taken Sedgely Park on a great journey over the past couple of years. Stephen Briers who looks after Sedge’s 2^nd xv is a close personal friend of mine.

We started our playing careers at West Park St Helens where we had many successful years under the coaching of Martin Jones, especially in the year of 2006 where we won promotion to National 3 North where Ste finished top try scorer and myself and top points scorer. Ste has a great relationship with the lads and you can see this in the way they play I am sure myself, CJ and Ste will enjoy a beer (or two) after the game.
Also a final mention to Matt Riley who played his last match for Sedgley Park after 457 appearances for the club, a great servant for the club and I player who I always enjoyed playing against.

The 1^st xv has used 50 players so far this season and it has been great to see some of the 2^nd xv lads step up. As always some of them have a had to be patient but for those who have trained well and performed well in the 2^nd xv they have been rewarded. Brothers Matty and Dan Rabbette, Callum Butler, Charlie Hyde and Jacob Mitchell have all played a number of games in the 1^st xv and there have been 1^st xv debuts for two of last year’s senior colts in Dylan Carroll and Lucas Wiggins. The club are working hard to manage the pathway for players from colts rugby to senior rugby. The formation of the 3^rd xv this season has helped this years’ junior and senior colts make the transition. Thank you to all the mini & junior coaches who have taken these young players on their rugby journey.

There are many people to thank for the support provided throughout the season for the 2^nd xv, Barry Macdonald for travelling up and down Lancashire and Cheshire taking pictures for the lads, Phil Wiley and the last of the summer wine team for the work they carry out on the pitches but most of all the players, they have been excellent all season (even if CJ does not tell them this !). Not to forget CJ who is very important to how we operate, he has a great relationship with the players and is a key person on the sideline. Without the players we do not have a game so we need to make sure we do everything possible to keep them playing so please continue to support our lads. 

Everything must come to end, when that is we shall see. However just remember what happened when Klopp left Liverpool and Arne stepped in !
Sooty – YNWAL”

Image – Barry Macdonald

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Marple 1^st xv v Caldy 3^rd xv in the Primo Drinks Bowl Final
Caldy Rav3rs take on Marple in the Primo Drinks Bowl Final which is being held at New Brighton RFC on Saturday 3 May kick off time 12.45 pm.

It has been a fantastic return to competitive League & Cup rugby for our 3rd xv this season thanks to the leadership of Liam Devaney, with the support of Dave Arthur, Mark Wilson, Steve Bishop and others, plus most importantly all the players who have joined the squad this season. The Rav3rs have fielded 90 players so far, successfully blending the introduction of younger players from colts to transition into senior rugby together with returning older, experienced players who have played for Caldy 1st xv and Caldy 2nd xv in the past.  

Finishing fourth in a league full of local 1st xv opposition is a great achievement. The season’s results have included several impressive high scoring wins and only a few narrow defeats which shows how competitive the 3rd xv have been. Saturday’s final is a fitting end to the season and hopefully the Rav3rs will bring the cup home ! 

Image – Barry Macdonald

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Community Rugby this Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th May
The first “Heat Wave” of the year is apparently on its way, so a good time for another fantastic season for Caldy Mini and Junior to be wrapped up with a few more Cup Finals and Festivals this Sunday, prior to a well-deserved rest for all Coaches, Managers and all those who contribute to making Caldy one of the biggest Mini and Junior sections in England !

First up congratulations to the u13s, Junior and Senior Colts on their respective victories in the Cheshire Cup tournaments last Sunday. And also to our mini-Raver u7s who went unbeaten at the New Brighton Festival.

On Saturday, our u13s will be hosting Doncaster prior to the 1^st team game – come down early and cheer them on !

This Sunday it’s the traditional season end festival at Hoylake for the Minis – best of luck to all teams going. We also have 3 Finals to look forward to with the u14s and u15s contesting the Cheshire Cup Plate Final vs Sandbach and Winnington Park respectively. The Junior Colts are playing Chester in the North West League Cup Final later in the day. Both the u14s and u15s matches are local, so I am sure they would appreciate any extra support !

Saturday 3rd May
u13s at home v Doncaster on Tour
Minis end of season presentations 

Sunday 4th May 
Minis
u6s training 
u7s, u8s, u9s, u10s, u11s, u12s away at Hoylake Festival
Juniors
u14s Cheshire Plate Final v Sandbach away at Anselmians
u15s Cheshire Plate Final v Winnington Park away at Wirral
u16s training
Girls
u14s, u16s, u18s training 
Junior Colts
u17s League Cup Final v Chester away at Heaton Moor kick off 3.30pm  
Senior Colts
Rest  

Good luck to everyone & enjoy your rugby weekend !

But please remember “No referees, No games” – disrespect or verbal abuse of rugby match officials is totally unacceptable & has no place in rugby.

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Rugby this weekend :
Caldy 1st xv at Paton Field Saturday 3rd May
The Championship
Caldy v Doncaster Knights kick off 3.00pm
Tickets are available to buy via our club website : https://caldyrugbyclub.com/buy-tickets-membership/

Caldy 2nd xv away Saturday 3rd May
Primo Drinks Cup Final at New Brighton FC RU
Caldy v Sedgley Park kick off 3.45pm ( tbc ) 

Caldy Rav3rs away Saturday 3rd May
Primo Drinks Bowl Final at New Brighton FC RU 
Caldy v Marple kick off 12.45pm 

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Rugby coming up next weekend :
Caldy 1st xv away at The Bay Friday 9th May
The Championship
Nottingham v Caldy kick off 7.45pm