Hoppers outclassed by confident Caldy

Hoppers went down to a clinical Caldy team that ran in seven tries including four in a dominant fifteen minute spell. Even after conceding fifty points Hoppers can take heart from a gutsy and determined performance which showed their fighting spirit right to the end.

Caldy got off to a dream start and were ahead early from a Jonathon Nugent try, after multiple infringements in the 22 the visitor’s took a quick tap and on the second surge Nugent was able to power over, Richard Vasey was successful with the conversion to start his impressive day with the boot. Hoppers responded well and were soon on the score sheet, after a couple of line outs in the 22 Alex Zavallis-Roebuck confidently slotted home a drop goal when the move looked to be grinding to a halt.

The momentum however quickly shifted back to Caldy as they crossed the line for a second time. A missed tackle on the 40m line allowed second row Paul Arnold into acres of space and his well timed off load put John Broxson clear to score untouched.

Hoppers then lost two influential players as first Steffan Thomas was forced to leave the field with a leg injury and Zavallis-Roebuck was stretchered off and taken to hospital with a neck injury, happily he was back at the club by the end of the match.

Caldy increased their lead with a Vasey penalty and scored another try when a well worked line out move was given quickly to the backs stretching the Hoppers defence, wing Neil Kerfoot was the extra man, touching down in the corner, Vasey converted from the touch line.

Hoppers ended the half well, producing some good rugby and were rewarded with Richard Morton’s try from a well worked line out move from short range. Caldy were reduced to 14 men as Stuart Turner was sin binned and Hoppers took control of the game but were unable to reduce the deficit mainly due to some last ditch tackles and the visitor were lucky to go into the break with a 22-8 lead.

The second half started brightly as both teams looked to move the ball quickly but everything changed when Sean Hall was sin binned seven minutes in. This started the Caldy onslaught as they scored three tries with the man advantage as part of twenty eight unanswered points that took the game out of reach.

First number 8 Craig Smithson touched down after the pack had pushed a 5m scrum over the line, then centre Scott Rawlings intercepted a pass on the 40m line and sprinted under the posts. Caldy found the try line again after a scrum was moved out quickly and in a move similar to that in the first half Kerfoot was again the extra man. The visitors scoring was complete when another scrum inside the 22 was moved out to the backs and centre Gavin Roberts was able to round his man and score, Vasey was successful with all his second half kick taking his personal tally to fifteen.

Hoppers were able to cross the line when James Williams was the first to react to a loose ball and out ran the defence to score under the posts after a 60m sprint and could have scored a few tries in the final minutes as again they finished strong but were just unable to turn some good possession and individual effort into points that the build up deserved.