Wins on the Wirral are very hard to come by. Even Ealing have perished there in recent seasons, and Cambridge’s recent record at the Paton Field was devoid of a ‘W’. So close on several occasions, including the epic 31-28 last-ditch defeat in the Blood & Sand’s last away trip of last season, there were many wrongs that needed righting, especially in the light of the opening day defeat against Chinnor.
The mood was determined, the odds seemed stacked after losing Eli Caven in the warm-up, but even conceding a pick and drive to Ollie Hearn inside 5 minutes failed to dampen that resolve. Louis Grimoldby cut the deficit with a penalty 9 minutes in. The Ravers stretched their lead again with two of their own off the tee from Tom Curtis, but with half time looming the narrative shifted with Cambridge striking twice ahead of the break.
With one chalked off over the line from Ben Brownlie, the visitors kicked up a gear and Kayde Sylvester stretched to make it two tries in two Championship games since his return from Northampton Saints. Grimoldby shaded the kick wide, but had no trouble converting after the move of the match when Ruaridh Dawson’s lightning break drew the defence for Jared Cardew to steam in and touch down. The omens were good – it was the back row’s second in two trips to the hosts’ – and Richie Wiliams’ side went in ahead at the break with a 7 point lead.
The Ravers redoubled their efforts in the second half – the promised (and delivered) war of forward attrition often became a pitched battle – and were adjudged held up over the line after some desperate defence from the Blood & Sand. Another penalty from Curtis reduced the arrears. Grimoldby again shaded wide, this time from half way, but it proved to be a ‘sighter’ for his next effort from a little closer in.
With a converted try needed for Caldy to level the game, Cambridge turned the screw – Pete White injecting renewed vigour off the bench – and Brownlie emerged victorious from another driving maul. That score sparked another level of ‘full-on’ from the hosts. Olly Wynn got in for a try that made the final few minutes more than a little nervous for the travelling fans – but the match-defining moment was surely Ben Adams last-ditch try saving tackle on former England 7s wing Nick Royle. In full flow, Royle looked to be on the verge of inflicting more pain on the Blood & Sand. Not so, as it turned out – Adams tapped his ankles and dashed Caldy’s hopes of another late comeback.
Here’s Richie: “We’ve done some soul searching this week after last week’s unacceptable level of performance. I think the way the players applied themselves today, that’s what we’re about as a group. We challenged them to bring that level of desire, that emotional response to last week, and they did that in bucket-loads. I’ve been up here four times and this is the first time that we’ve come away with a win. It was always going to be a battle today – it wasn’t the prettiest at times – but sometimes you’ve just got to find a way to win and huge kudos to the players for doing just that”.
Teams
Caldy
Kilcourse (Barker 66), Jones (Barlow 66), Wilkinson, Cartmill, Royle (Stevenson 72), Curtis, Tansey (Winn 54); Rushton (Aigbokhae 49), Hearn (Gallagher 60), Weatherby (Sproston 49), Gerrard, Olyott, Ridgeway, Woodman (Jones 68), Dickinson
Cambridge
Lennon (Hanks 42), Skelcey, Hema, Betteridge, Green, Grimoldby, R Dawson (White 50); Ellwood (Nearchou 60), Brownlie (Veness 75), Walker (Nonleh 66), Bretag-Norris, Sylvester, Rees (Adams 50), Cardew (Baxter 68), Bartlett (Dawson 56)
Referee – Joe Jones
Attendance 1,167
Scorers
Caldy
Tries Hearn 5, Wynn 77
Conversions Curtis 77
Penalties Curtis 23,30, 52
Cambridge
Tries – Sylvester 34, Cardew 39, Brownlie 66
Conversions – Grimoldby 40
Penalties – Grimoldby 8, 32, 60