Fixture

In the ultimate game of two halves Caldicot lost their first home game of the league season, versus Ynysddu, 22-24, despite dominating the first half and enjoying a 22 – 5 half-time lead.

Caldicot enjoyed the early pressure and came close to scoring after a opting to kick a penalty to the corner. Despite multiple phases following the resultant driving lineout Caldicot failed to get over the line conceding a turnover. Continued pressure saw Joe Bajjada making good use of a sharp break following a mid-field scrum, his chip ahead looking threatening until being diffused.

Caldicot’s first points, after a dominant opening period, came from the boot of outside half Ashley Donovan, following a penalty for offside and were just reward for a slick, width of the field, passing move by the backline.

In what may have been the turning point in the game however, Caldicot were forced to reshuffle their backline after just fifteen minutes when centre Sion Lewis was forced from the field with a nasty facial injury.

A minute later Caldicot ran a penalty from their own half and sustained pressure saw Caldicot camped on Ynysddu’s try line from where they successfully drove a lineout for an unconverted try by blindside Adam Hill, for a well deserved 8-0 lead. Ynysddu bounced straight back however, a powerful scrum on Caldicot’s 22, earning a penalty which was kicked to the corner. The driving maul from the ensuing lineout resulted in their first five pointer of the afternoon bringing the scores within three.

The try of the day came on the half hour mark with irrepressible hooker Martyn Beddows up to his try scoring antics again, this time with a 40 yard break, out pacing the fullback to re-gather his own chip and score under the posts, allowing Donovan the easiest of conversions for a 15-5 lead. The lead was extended to 22-5 by half time following a break by scrum half James Taylor, looking sharp on his season debut, superbly supported by Captain Joe Cullimore, which resulted in second row Dom Owen crashing over, with Donovan again converting.

Caldicot crucially failed to put the game to bed in a frustrating third quarter in which they found possession difficult to come by, when a further try might have sealed the result. Rather than the larger Ynysddu pack tiring, they started to gain ascendancy and mount their comeback, scoring a try after a break by their outside half through an increasingly disjointed Caldicot defence.

Caldicot's defensive organisation and in particular their poor line-speed, continued to create dog legs, especially on the blindside and further Ynysddu breaks resulted in a third try after a driving maul. At 22-17 they sensed their victory and sealed it with five minutes to go after another blindside break resulted in a try in the corner, superbly converted from the touchline for a 22-24 win.

The Caldicot coaching team of Jason Elliott and Tim Hanks praised their team for their first half performance which took them to seven tries in two games but highlighted the need to work on defensive organisation and line-speed, in order to translate successful offence into victory. Two close defeats by two points was tough to take but both coaches expressed confidence in their players character and ability to turn it around in time for the away trip to Monmouth next week.