Caldy Bank on Tommy for away draw

South Leics ..21 Caldy .............. 21

CALDY remain top of the pile in National 2 North after a tough, hard-fought draw between two evenlymatched sides.

With Caldy perhaps having the greater attacking intent, South Leicester defended stoutly to keep the game in the balance right to the end.

In the first half, a kicking duel between Caldy’s Rhys Hayes and South Leicester’s Rick Aley was edged by the home stand-off but it was the try by outside centre Tim Bertram that initially put South Leicester ahead.

After the break Caldy took a short-lived lead with a Lavin penalty but again South Leicester came back through a try by No.8 Nick Cairns.

With time slipping by, Caldy began to fight hard for the win – Louis McGowan crossing on 50 minutes to stay in touch,

while South Leicester kept the scoreboard ticking over through Aley’s reliable place-kicking.

As the home support were congratulating themselves on a win, powerful centre Tommy Banks cut through the South Leicester defence and scored a try in the final moments which Lavin converted to give the visitors a well-earned draw.

This was Caldy’s toughest test to date and after a four-hour journey, they will head back north satisfied with a hard-earned draw, which after other results fell in their favour, left them two points clear at the league summit. TEAMS

SOUTH LEICESTER: Gunn, Hough, Cave, Gates, Martin, Aley, Shaw, McNaughton, Ager, Holford, Wolfenden, Ward, Cope, Turner, Cairns

Replacements: Gibbons, Murray, Johnson, Cheney, Clarke

CALDY: Soutar, Royle, Lavin, Banks, Sellwood, Hayes, Broxson, Concu, Stagg, Salisbury, McGowan, Sanders, Crowe, Collister, Dickinson

Replacements: Parker, Hearn, Jones, Gerrard, Weir REFEREE: Alexis Manley ATTENDANCE: 50 Star man Harrison Crowe - South Leics