CALDY 41- 24 CAMBRIDGE
Despite the score line at the Paton Field Cambridge came away with much credit and a try bonus point against the backdrop of a week dominated by illness and injury. The latter goes some way to explaining a slow start, where Caldy were out of the blocks early doors with a brace of tries from hooker Ollie Hearn as their driving maul – statistically the best in the Champ – was in full effect. Their third touch down came from winger Obi Ene – and their bonus point try from Matt Kilcourse – and the visitors looked to be on the wrong end of a hiding, with the Ravers heading for their fourth consecutive victory.
After the half hour though Cambridge showed much more of their mettle, and an heroic individual shift from Zach Nearchou, on for the injured Jake Ellwood, turned the tide. 31 minutes in, Ruaridh Dawson’s initial break saw the ball fed to Nearchou, who, stopped short of the line, had the presence of mind to twist and finish overhead to give Otu Mausia an easy conversion. Whilst Caldy added a fifth through Will Robinson, Nearchou was in ‘raging bull’ mode and took another offload from Dawson into space to finish with aplomb. Mausia added another two points off the tee, and going into the sheds at half time 15 points behind after being 24 points adrift with 29 minutes played set up the prospect of a belting second period.
As aways the first try in that next forty is crucial – and for the first time in a while it went to Cambridge, who carried their momentum into the swirling wind for a perfect restart. A tremendous driving maul saw Dan Eckersley over the line for number three, just too far away from the middle for the extras, which went wide. Caldy responded immediately – Kilcourse again the scorer with a big burst through the middle to touch down under the sticks. Imi Qowowale notched the bonus point try, dotting down in the corner, as Cambridge fought hard to keep in touch and, at least, take a losing bonus point but the last word on the scoreboard went to Sale number 8 Reuben Logan, on loan at Ellgia Fields last season and making his Ravers’ loan debut on Saturday, as the hosts allayed the jangling nerves of their supporters in a game they thought they had won with nearly an hour to spare.
Down but not out – and, after that first half hour outscoring the hosts – there was much to take from the game despite the defeat. Head Coach Craig Newby said afterwards, “We’re slow learners – I’m working that out quite quickly. We keep making mistakes that sides are punishing us for. Caldy are a very good side, they’ve been together for a long time and they know exactly who they are, and how they want to play, but we’re making unforced errors, individual errors, and we’re slow to learn from them, and that’s the biggest disappointment from today. Our composure in our own 22 wasn’t there early on – we had a very clear plan with the ball, we didn’t stick to it, made mistakes, they had two clear chances and they took them and all of a sudden, our energy drops. We can’t take energy away from ourselves and give it to the opposition when we’ve got guys who’ve been in bed for a week who played the whole game. We could have just rolled over and let them rack up 60-70 points at home. We didn’t. We scored four tries playing much more the way we want to play and gave them a proper game after that first 30. I’m really proud of that”.
Match Stats
Penalties Conceded 10/8
Line Outs Won 9/10
Line Outs Lost 1/1
Scrums Won 8/4
Scrums Lost 0/0
Attendance 1,876
Referee Richard Gordon
Teams
Caldy
Kilcourse, Robinson, Wilkinson (Mitchell 72), Barlow (Barker 56), Ene, Wilkinson, Thomas (Akehurst 56); Rushton (Weatherby 52), Hearn (Gallagher 52), Sproston (Higginson 52), Gerrard, Sanders, (Loboda 65) Olyott, Jones (Owen 40), Logan
Cambridge
Caven (Currie 56), Lumley, Reweti, Rokodrava, Qorowale, Mausia, Dawson (Thompson 58); Ellwood (Nearchou 23), Doorey-Palmer (Irvine 69), Walker (Boal 60), Baxter, McCay (Lawrence 37), Fulford (Thomas 68), Eckersley, Adams (Yallop 68)
Scorers
Caldy
Tries Hearn 6, 16, Ene 20, Kilcourse 25, 45, Robinson 32, Logan 73
Conversions Wilkinson 17, 21, 46
Cambridge
Tries Nearchou 29, 39, Eckersley 43, Qorowale 51
Conversions Mausia 29, Caven 40