Macc’s young guns Do club proud
THIS season’s Cheshire Cup saw a new format with only six clubs contesting.
The teams were put into two Conferences, Sandbach and Caldy 2nds joining Macclesfield in Conference 1, and Stockport, Wirral and Northwich in 2.
On Saturday, our opponents were Caldy 2nds, a team with an unbeaten run going back to 2019 (we’ve had four Prime Ministers since they last tasted defeat!) and so this was always going to be a test for the holders, particularly as the Macclesfield coaching team saw this as an opportunity to blood some players from the wider squad.
In fact, seven players made their 1st XV debut on Saturday, and with a couple more playing only their second or third game, this was a very inexperienced team indeed.
When Caldy announced their team on Friday, it became evident that Macclesfield’s task would become even harder, as the visitors’ squad included eight players from their Championship team!
This competition is for clubs competing at Level 5 and so it was always going to be an uphill struggle for the boys in blue, playing against a team unbeaten for four years and strengthened by several players from Level 2, and the final score of 28-57 to Caldy didn’t really tell the tale of the match.
As expected, Caldy started off strongly, and after a period of possession in the Macc half, they created an opening on their right to score in the corner.
Macc responded immediately and put together several phases in the Caldy 22 before a handling error saw Caldy on the counter, stopped by a text book tackle by Lloyd Smith-Coates.
A cheap shot off the ball by Caldy 13 on Charlie Attis was spotted by the referee and the fly half put the ball into the corner giving the home side an attacking lineout.
The ball was won at the back by skipper Tom Burden; however, another handling error in the centres saw the attack fizzleout.
Caldy tried to run out of defence but the ball was stripped and the boys in blue were on the attack again. However, for the third time in quick succession a handling error gave possession to the visitors and a speculative hoof down the pitch – followed by a great chase – led to the ball going out to the left winger who scored in the corner, 10-0 to Caldy after 14 minutes.
Straight from the kickoff, Caldy attacked again, and a powerful run by their big second row resulted in him scoring their third try, 17-0 to Caldy after 15 minutes.
A period of stalemate in the centre of the pitch followed before the home side conceded a penalty, resulting in a lineout five metres from the Macc line.
A well-rehearsed catch and drive ended in the inevitable and Caldy had their fourth try in the bag and a 24-0 scoreline.
The home side’s heads may well have dropped at this point, but there was to be none of it, and within two minutes, a defensive kick from Caldy was fielded brilliantly by debutant Toby Moule, who then broke through the on rushing defence before offloading to John O’Donnel backing up on his shoulder; the Centre had the easy task of touching down under the sticks and the extra points were duly added by Charlie
Attis, 24-7 to the visitors.
At this point, James Brocklehurst and Dale Crompton were replaced by Harry Harding and Brendon Berry to add a bit of experience.
Some great ball carrying and recycling led to a Macc penalty, with Attis again finding touch in the right hand corner.
Another fine catch and drive by the blues almost resulted in a second try, but the visitors managed to somehow dislodge the ball and the chance was gone.
The Caldy No. 8 was becoming more and more influential as the game wore on, and he was instrumental in creating the visitors’ next try, eventually scored by second row McNamee after a powerful arcing run to the line.
As the half time whistle approached, it would have been easy for Macclesfield to capitulate against a rampant away side, but the Macc lads had other ideas and the Blues attacked the opposition line on repeated occasions, spreading the ball from left to right and back again, eventually leading to a try from prop Simeon Meek bulldozing his way over from short distance, the conversion from Attis was successful to make the score at half time Caldy 31 Macc 14.
Within two minutes of the restart, Caldy again showed their class with a wonderful break from former Macc favourite Lewis Barker, before drawing the fullback and passing to replacement winger Nick Royle to sprint into the corner.
Lewis Barker, using his local knowledge to gauge the elements, added the conversion.
Straight from the restart, Macc forced an error and from the resulting scrum, Sam Brown, coming off his wing into the centre, received the ball on the 10 metre line and showed great speed and elusive running to sprint around the oncoming defence before heading for the posts and scoring a try worthy of rivalling Harry Blackwell’s effort from last week, Attis again adding the extra two, Caldy 38 Macclesfield 21
An attacking lineout for Macc was then overthrown and the visitors showed their class with some wonderful interplay between forwards and backs; resulting in a try out on the left wing for another regular Championship player Ben Jones; Barker was unsuccessful with the conversation, Caldy 43 Macclesfield 21.
It was turning into real end to end stuff with Caldy infringing at the restart, Attis kicking for the corner and a series of attacks from the Blues before
Sam Brown cut a great line to score his second of the day, again Attis con
verting, Caldy 43 Macclesfield 28.
Caldy then showed some clinical finishing with another catch and drive at the lineout, closely followed by a superb break up the middle with an offload to Nick Royle for his second to complete the scoring for the day, Caldy 57 Macclesfield 28.
When you consider Caldy included eight players from their Championship team, (Caldy 1st team had no game on Saturday), and Macclesfield fielded seven first team debutants, this was a sterling and extremely encouraging performance from a very young and inexperienced side.
The difference in experience was highlighted when Macc brought on young winger Harry King at half time for his debut, having only recently secured his place in the second team, whilst Caldy brought on winger
Nick Royle – an England Sevens player with 123 National 1 appearances for Fylde and almost 200 tries in National League rugby!
Everyone at Priory Park should be extremely proud of the performance of our young guns on Saturday, each and every one stepped up to the mark and they should all be proud of their performances, and I make no apology for naming each of the young debutants: Dale Crompton (who spilled tears of pride when he ran onto the pitch), James Brocklehurst, Hector Tomlinson, Toby Moule (voted Macclesfield Man of the Match for an outstanding performance at full back), Ted Broadley (a hooker with great potential), Harry King and Ollie Church.
Added to that, Carl Droy and Hayden Keogh who have two or three games between them and the
future looks bright and the future looks blue!
Back to League action next week when Kendal
travel down from Cumbria to take on the Blue selection this week will be interesting after Saturday!
Why not book on for the pre match lunch and enjoy the full match day experience!