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7 November 2009 - Caldy 34 Hull Ionians 23 - National 2 North Photos
Hull Ionians
raised their game to push promotion hopefuls Caldy to the limit and were well
worth their early lead and to be within a point at 23-34 down on the hour.
However Caldy had the winning habit to grind out victory, but they knew they had
only just won, defying Hull Ionians lowly league placing.
Caldy applied the early pressure but an interception by Luke Thundercliffe took
play up field where offside saw Iain Gordon strike the penalty. Caldy replied by
moving the ball back and forth and managed to put Andrew Soutar clear for a try,
much to the relief of the home crowd who knew a forward pass had created the
gap, Gavin Roberts adding the conversion. Caldy were using quick ball to
maintain their attack but could not break the defence then Gary Stephenson
spotted his chance and a fine interception saw him juggle cleanly then race 80
metres to score and retake the lead, Gordon converting. In a full on forward
battle Caldy did not dominate as they expected but on 24 minutes sustained ball
control after a 5 metre scrum saw Paul Arnold driven to just reach the line,
Richard Vassey converting. Once again good work by Hull Ionians saw Iain Gordon
strike another penalty when Caldy killed the ball but offside saw Vassey kick
one too to lead 17-13 at the break.
Caldy now used the wind to play in the right quarter and good support after Gavin Roberts had been stopped short by a tap tackle soon saw flanker Jake Lyon pick up and cross, Vassey converting. Hull Ionians came back again and with Caldy going over the top Gordon struck a third penalty. A scrum offence gave Hull Ionians a free kick and moving it wide saw Oli Marns make ground then quick ball in the tackle saw James Ferguson give Rob Whittam the half chance to beat the fullback and score under the posts, Iain Gordon converting to bring them within a point. Caldy’s kicking game earned another penalty for Vassey then after he had been driven back brilliantly by Hull Ionians pack, no 8 Craig Smithson rescued the ball and found a hole in the defence to race in for the decisive final score, again converted by Vassey denying Hull Ionians the loosing bonus point their play had deserved.