Round-up of every try, tackle and scrum – all the rugby action from teams across Wirral

Feb 25 2009 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

Caldy v Nuneaton

Caldy 7 - Nuneaton15

CALDY’S hopes of winning National League Three North suffered a severe blow with this home defeat to Nuneaton, writes Neil McDonald.

The Wirral men – while not at their best due to illness and injury – threw everything at the visitors, but were met with rock solid and disciplined defence, combined with invention and speed with the ball in hand.

When added to an absence of fortune at key moments, it proved to be a winning combination.

The game started at a ferocious pace and the tackling from both sides was brutal, leading to Caldy having to make two substitutions before the 20-minute mark due to injury as flanker Gareth Bansor and scrum-half Sam Cottrell were forced off.

Despite the visitors’ tough tackling, Caldy kept trying to probe for openings and had the clearer scoring chances.

Firstly Andrew Soutar failed to gather the ball from a John Broxson kick through with the line at his mercy, and then Sam Cottrell's early break was ended when Shaun Woof was tackled and the attack petered out.

Buoyed by their narrow escapes, Nuneaton came back and notched a penalty from Hugh Thomas, when Caldy's Matt Lamming was sinbinned for a high tackle, to lead 3-0 at the break.

Caldy came out re-energised and with the wind behind them, were hopeful of taking the lead.

Their greater aggression almost paid off immediately when Nuneaton full-back Michael Moore was caught in possession and then turned over, leading to a 3-1 overlap and an almost certain try.

It was all for nothing though as referee Philip Davies unbelievably called play back for a penalty to Caldy. Crucially, Gavin Roberts missed the kick at goal.

Despite this, they maintained their momentum and pinned Nuneaton back into their 22 with good runs by Mark Turner and Liam Devaney, only for two line-outs to be penalised for not being thrown straight.

The visitors made no such error when – following a line out that also seemed askew - Alex Taylor broke through in midfield and passed to the dangerous Will Cave to run in for a try. The conversion was missed, but suddenly there was daylight between the teams.

That gap increased when the game’s outstanding player, Nuneaton stand-off Rob Cook, cut through from close range following several phases of play – Thomas converting to make the score 15-0.

The Wirral team kept going and got the try their all round play and effort deserved on 77 minutes when Woof stood strong in midfield before offloading to Soutar, Roberts converting.

Caldy coach Matt Holt was gracious in defeat, and said: “Full credit to Nuneaton, they were better than us on the day. I am proud of my players for keeping going and we will work hard now to get ready for the game at Fylde next week.”