OEs hold nerve to continue winning feeling

FOR the second successive week Elthamians shredded the nerves of their supporters, holding off a storming Caldy fightback to clinch their fourth win in a row.

In an incident-packed encounter which saw seven tries and six yellow cards, OEs got off to a dream start when fly-half Tom White broke the Caldy line and kicked ahead, regathering to feed Dom Lespierre for the try after just 20 seconds.

The home side played at a furious pace early on and quickly added further tries from lock Tom Scorgie and full-back Chris Surman to open up a 15-0 lead.

Stung by a succession of penalties which resulted in three yellow cards in the opening period, Caldy battled back towards the end of the half and were rewarded with a fine individual try by fly-half Rhys Hayes to cut the lead to eight points at the break.

White added a penalty three minutes after the restart and when the flyhalf touched down on 49 minutes after a break by Joe Carlisle, OEs had moved into a 23-7 lead.

However, there was drama to come as the home side now incurred the wrath of the referee, picking up three yellow cards as Caldy monopolised possession and territory.

They were awarded a penalty try on 64 minutes and when outstanding winger Nick Royle streaked away to score with ten minutes remaining, OEs were forced to dig deep for a narrow win.