Hoppers punished by clinical Caldy

Head Coach Dave Baldwin was left frustrated at yet another underwhelming Hoppers performance as Caldy ran in six tries to record a bonus point win. The game was closer than it should have been at the half as the visitors wasted several good opportunities to score but they got their act together to score some sublime tries.

In what was a very open contest it was a surprise that the first try came midway through the first half, Caldy capitalised on a penalty inside the Hoppers 22 and kicked to the corner, they then executed a perfect catch and drive with Derek Salisbury touching down at the base, Gavin Roberts added the extras on way to his personal tally of 15.

Hoppers levelled the score soon after, James Smith’s quick tap got the ball into the 22 and after a second penalty was kicked to touch they were able to unleash the backs with quick ball and Matt Hughes was on hand to round off the move and grab the first of his two tries, Mark Edwards converted.

Caldy reclaimed the lead just before the break with a piece of individual brilliance from Roberts, he took the ball in midfield before breaking the defensive line with searing pace to beat several would be tacklers .

The second half only got worse for Hoppers as Caldy passes started going to hand and they capitalised on several turnovers to run away with the game. Salisbury turned provider when the big prop found himself on the wing after a turnover, he powered through one tackle before passing inside to John Broxson who coasted in untouched.

Caldy then got two tries is quick succession as both wingers crossed the whitewash. Liam Devaney secured the bonus point rounding off a well worked set piece and then another Hoppers turnover lead to Craig Ross benefitting from some excellent support work. Josiah Dickinson rounded off the visitors scoring after finding himself in acres of space when the Hoppers defence was sucked in to cope with the powerful forward pressure.

Hoppers had the final say with Hughes’ second try, but it was too little too late as the game was long gone. Dominic Moon was at his forceful best to rip the ball away and Hoppers speedy backline broke clear and were able to make the right decisions to put Hughes into space and the wing had too much pace for the covering defence, Alex Zavallis-Roebuck slotted the simple conversion but the game was already out of reach.

This was the Hoppers post Christmas season in a microcosm, there were moments of brilliant play in both attack and defence with Tom Hughes and Zavallis-Roebuck at the centre of most of it and there was a lot of effort from the forwards, in particular Moon who was a thorn in Caldy’s side when he was on the field, but there were too many simple errors and an inability to secure possession and generate quick ball has cost them, they travel to Huddersfield next week in what could be their final game of the season as the rearranged home fixture against Rugby Lions may not be played.