Round 4 Predictions, News etc

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   A very good performance by Caldy against a best available Sale Sharks side. In atrocious conditions not having the ball was probably a good thing and in the first half Caldy had a lot of good things! Sale Sharks had circa 85% possession and territory but apart from two line out drives book ending the half the Sharks couldn't break down Caldy's defence.
Time and time again the du Preez twins and Jonny Hill trucked the ball up but they were continuously smashed back. 0-12 down at half time became 0-17 at the start of the second period but if the script was for the Sharks to start to pull away Caldy hadn't read it.

The introduction of Raffi Quirke on the 45 minute mark put more pace into the Sharks but as the weather improved Caldy had much the better of the next 30 minutes in territory, possession and inventiveness .A glorious chip in behind by Lewis Barker put Connor Wilkinson in under the posts to get Caldy on to the score board and it was game on. 

A few times Caldy were within driving range of the Sharks try line but the street smarts of Jonny Hill and the heavy weight Sharks pack stemmed the tide. Although the Sharks redoubled their efforts in the last 7 or 8 minutes and managed to secure the bonus point with the last play of the game, it was a messy and unclear score.

The match was a feisty affair with numerous flash points as a defiant and physical Caldy refused to be bullied by their more illustrious Manchester neighbours. Caldy scrum half Chris 'Tyson' Pilgrim scrapping with the Shark's pack delighted the big home support and was typical of the fight within this Caldy squad..

A great competitive game at Paton Field

Edited by Big Eddie - 01 Oct 2023 at 13:44