Feb 5, 2010, 12:45 pmIts derby day this Saturday and not just of the footballing variety as Caldy 1st XV travel over the water to face local rivals Waterloo in the first ever league encounter between the two sides. Following two hard fought wins, Caldy are expecting no less of a challenge from the boys from Blundellsands despite their precarious league position and their result last weekend. This fixture has been rearranged following its original date in December when the pitch was frozen.
Waterloo have undergone much change this season with the advent of mywaterloorugby.com which gives the fans an opportunity to pick the team as well as make a number of other decisions as to the clubs progress. There is a change at the top as former Welsh international lock Steve Moore has taken the role of Director of Rugby and appears to be making some considerable progress in steadying the ship as well as improving performances week after week.
This season, it appears that Waterloo have relied on their impressive backs with Liam McGovern, Liam Reeve and James O’Brien scoring the bulk of their points. James O’Brien has sneaked ahead of Liam McGovern as their top scorer with 83 points out of which he has scored 12 tries so far this season from the left wing/full back. He will be looking to put pressure on Paul Arnold and Greg Summers at the top of the try scoring table. Liam Reeve at outside centre is a dangerous runner and has four tries to date this season. Probably their most popular signing of the season has been the return from Birkenhead Park of talismanic back rower Njike ‘Cheeky’ Tchakoute. Caldy supporters will also recognise Steve Ross, brother of our own Craig, who signed from Caldy during the summer and has started on the wing for the last three weeks.
Matt Holt has virtually a full pack to choose with Smithson and MacPherson both overcoming knocks from last Saturday. After impressive performances for the 2nd XV Mark Turner and JJ Dickinson move into the squad with Olly Cooper and Charlie Brown moving into the 2nd XV. The side is as follows:
MACPHERSON, SOUTAR, ROBERTS, WOOF, KERFOOT, VASEY, BROXSON, WOODS, INCE, SALISBURY, ARNOLD, COLLISTER, LYON, SEWELL, SMITHSON SUBS: TURNER S, TURNER M, DICKINSON, ROSS and DOWRIDGE
The 2nd XV have had a slight shuffle this weekend for their trip to Sandbach with Ben Wylie starting at full back having come through last weekend’s game against Warrington 3rd XV without too much trouble from his foot. Alex Martland will be looking to add to his tally of 6 tries from last week and the absence of Dan King sees a partnership of youth and experience with Olly Cooper and Chris Young in the centres. The 2nd XV is as follows:
WYLIE, BARNISH, YOUNG, COOPER, MARTLAND, ORME, BYRNE, PARKER, BOSWARVA, BUCKLEY, BAILEY, BROWN, MCNALLY, AIGBOKHAE, NUGENT SUBS: BROADHURST, DOOLAN, LYON
The 3rd XV also play their rearranged Halbro trophy 2nd round fixture when they face Broughton Park away. This looks to bean intriguing fixture with Broughton Park sitting in third place in Division Three East and is likely to be a tough challenge for the Caldy side. Pete Wallace has pulled out all of the stops yet again and is excited to see the likes of Kiran Vora, Chris Stonall and Ben Lyon in the ranks.
The 4th XV are the only side at home this weekend when they entertain Wirral at home. Anyone who fancies a game, please contact, Dave Harrison as he is always looking for players. After the game the club will be showing the England versus Wales game in both of the bars and there will be some nibbles on offer too. Please make every effort to come down and watch the game at the club.
There were no Colts fixtures last weekend and there are none this weekend.
There were no Junior fixtures last weekend as all of the games succumbed to the cold weather but this weekend promises to be an exciting weekend for the entire section. Its Cheshire Cup weekend and all of our Junior sides have been rewarded with home fixtures and I would encourage anyone who can to come down and have a look at the strength in depth at our club. In the Under 13 section, they are playing against Marple and the Under 14s section will be playing on the 1st team pitch weather permitting against Anselmians. The Under 15s section, have a home tie against Chester and the Under 16s are due to play Altrincham Kersal. Good luck to everyone involved!!
Something to note for all parents is that there is a half term rugby camp being held at the club by 1st team members who are recognised RFU qualified coaches for children aged between 7-12 on16th-18th February. Please refer to the club website for full details and an application form for entry onto the camp.
The Under 12s last weekend did have a fixture last weekend when they entertained Lymm and played two fixtures drawing one of the games and winning the other fixture comfortably in the end
Last weekend, the Under 11s hosted Lymm, another of the well-drilled mid-Cheshire squads. True to their name, the Gents allowed the Players to go first. Lymm arrived with a well-balanced squad, showing good discipline and a lot of skill. As on the week before, it was necessary to out-muscle the opposition pack before letting the backs use the resulting space. The entire pack showed what a formidable unit they are becoming – it did not seem to matter which five members of the forwards club were on the pitch, the result was the same: an impressive team performance of determination and close support. Both Daniel and Sam proved their worth, never ceasing in their effort. The backs made a lot of ground on opposition possession by aggressive tacking on and in front of the gain line. The Lymm backs often ended up losing considerable ground moving the ball along the line in the face of a determined defence. The players showed that they have learned a lot recently in their management of broken play. Lymm were often turned over, but the players showed individual confidence and patience when caught in possession, generally holding up play to allow their support to arrive and clean-up. The speed of support from backs and forwards alike was most impressive. In the end, the Caldy dominance showed, with the Players running in four tries, all converted, to none.
The Gents were eager to prove their mettle and were put to the test by an early break-away try. They stood firm and fought hard. As if they had not already done enough, Sam and Aaron volunteered to assist in the scrum; they found that they were in the company of a group of fighters. The Lymm pack eventually proved a bit too strong and well-drilled for the Gents Pack, but the boys never let their heads down and battled hard to the end. Another spirited performance from George showed the others the way.The backs grew in stature throughout the game with Anton particularly to the fore in the number of tackles attempted and completed. At one stage, he was a one-man tornado sweeping across the pitch with a trail of fallen Lymm players in his wake. Although they did not win, this was another creditable performance from the Gents. They are starting to gel as a team, and are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Next week, they will be leading the attack when Wirral come to visit.
On Sunday the U10’s took part in a privately organised challenge with Altrincham Kersal, Lymm and Macclesfield. The A team event was at Caldy and the B team event at Macclesfield. Sadly, due to overnight snow the matches at Macclesfield had to be cancelled and their A Team was unable to travel. Caldy Tigers took their place in the matches at Paton Field.
The competition was on a league basis with each team playing each other once. Points were awarded for wins and draws with a winning bonus point for scoring 3 tries, or a losing bonus point if a match was lost by only one try.
The Caldy Lions made an impressive start to their opening match against Lymm, dominating possession and taking the lead through a try from Will Haydon Wood. More tries might have followed but well organised defending by Lymm kept the score to 1-0 at the interval. After the break Lymm came back strongly and aided by some missed tackles went into a 2-1 lead. The Lions rallied towards the end of the game but were unable to score again. The Caldy Lions then played the Caldy Tigers and in a rather static game the Lions ran out winners by 6 tries to nil. Tries came from Ross Atkinson(2), Jack Pritchard, Edward Azurdia, Max Dunlap and Robin Lowndes. Meanwhile, in the other group match Altrincham Kersal had beaten Lymm by 4 tries to nil, setting up a “grande finale” between the Lions and Kersal. The Lions needed to win, score 3 tries and deny Kersal a losing bonus point in order to win the trophy. In the event, the Lions produced their best display of the season. The forwards rucked and mauled well and the backs used the possession swiftly and accurately. No one missed a tackle and Altrincham were never really able to threaten, in the end the constant pressure told and the Lions ran in 7 tries without reply. Try scorers were Will Haydon Wood(2), Jacob Findlay(2), Ross Atkinson, Robin Lowndes and Harry Newton Jones.
All in all it was a very successful and enjoyable event which produced rugby of an excellent standard from all the teams. Thanks must go to Alrincham Kersal and Lymm for their support and particularly to Caldy Tigers who stood in at short notice.
From the Tigers viewpoint:
After an hour’s hard training the Caldy Tigers agreed to step in to cover the vacant Macclesfield slot, and with only 11 players it was always going to be a tough morning, made even tougher by losing 2 players in the first match.
With just 9 available players the team were not too far away overall from the high standards set. There were passages of play where the Tigers dominated in the first 2 games but were unable to convert that into tries. Tackling let us down but there were more positives than negatives. After 2.5 hours of training and matches the team were out on their feet against Lymm but kept going till the end. Man of the day and someone who showed that the Tigers can tackle went to Tom Fletcher, for crunching tackling in all 3 games.
The U9s travelled to Lymm to play at a snow bound Partington artifical pitch, as used by Sale Sharks. Despite a couple of inches of snow there was plenty of give underfoot and with two squads were able play four matches. The standard of rugby from both sides was incredibly high. We pretty much shared the spoils over the morning's games with Caldy putting in, what all coaches agreed, some of the best rugby the squad has ever produced.
The Under 8s unfortunately were unable to play due to the poor weather.
The Under 7s managed to get their games against Lymm played and they again came up against a very strong Lymm side who probably edged it on the day but everyone who was involved perfomed well and is looking forward to Wirral this Sunday.
In the Girls section 9 girls spent last Sunday a Myerscough College on trials for the North West of England side. Pat Parkinson is pleased to confirm that 4 of those girls have been selected and another four will return to Myerscough on Sunday for a second trial. The rest of the girls will be training.
And finally a quote this week from Jim Ryan “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
Caldy Superdraw
Highlights
