Cairns delight as Caldy secure bonus point win
NATIONAL One pacesetters Caldy, backed by boisterous travelling support, utilised their superior pack to overcome a spirited Leeds Tykes at a blustery Sycamores.
The hosts won the toss and elected to play into the wind in the first half, hoping that it would give them an advantage after the break.
However, the vastly experienced Ravers fronted up well, backing themselves to keep it in the forwards and roll their youthful opponents downfield.
Happy Caldy coach Matt Cairns said: “The conditions in the first half made things scrappy, but we were able to use our strengths and get some control in the end to secure the bonus point.
“We are naturally pleased with the win against a good defensive side.
“We are taking it one game at a time, as we have done all year. We move forwards to Taunton next week.”
Captain Will Smith was one of several key players forced off due to injury during a disjointed first half for the Yorkshiremen.
Leeds Coach Jon Callard felt that the enforced changes “affected the cohesion” of his side and “disrupted the patterns” of the game.
The visitors opened the scoring after capitalising on a free ball, which squirted out of the side of a ruck; the imperious Ben Jones sprinted down the short side to score after nine minutes but was unable to convert.
Charlie Venables continued his fine run of form from the tee to keep his side in touch, before later being helped from the field during the closing stages of the first half.
Either side of the Leeds back line reshuffle, forced upon them by Venables’ early departure, Ben Jones slotted penalties to give his side a sense of control going into the half-time interval.
The home side came out galvanised, as they have done so often this season. Frustratingly for their supporters, all too often they were unable to turn possession into points. One
bright spark came through replacement Will Hardwick, who was the quickest to react to a ball that was hacked through, taking advantage of Caldy’s failure to ground the ball in goal.
Leeds were unable to build on this momentum and coughed up possession, which enabled Caldy scrum half Joe Murray to exploit a gap in the drift defence to restore his side’s control of proceedings.
Tries from Adam Aigbokhae and Nick Royle secured the full fivepoints on offer for the leaders, as a tired Leeds pack was dismantled after absorbing waves of pressure. Star Man Ben Jones converted the first of the scores.
Harry Jukes scored a late consolation try for the home side when he collected a high ball from the restart and raced down the wing to score in the final play of the game.