Hull lose at Caldy, but only after giving league leaders a scare

Hull made their mark in Wirral as they fought Caldy all the way and few would have denied them the bonus point they so nearly achieved.

Caldy may have won by 10 points, but it was the smallest margin of victory at home since they beat Fylde 25-18 on November 2.

Hull started well against league leaders Caldy capitalising on an error by the home side which gave the visitors good field position in the first minute. Hull won the ensuing  lineout and retained possession pressuring Caldy into giving away a penalty which was converted by off-half Simon Humberstone for a 3-0 lead.

Hull were holding the upper hand in the scrum, but it was Caldy who scored next when their centre Mike Barlow kicked a penalty after 11 minutes.

Another Barlow penalty after Hull’s Liam Regardsoe was yellow carded after 17 minutes seemed to galvanise Hull who won the ball just after the restart and drove the ball to the line for prop Charlie Beech to smash his way under the posts for a try converted by Humberstone to see Hull lead 10-6 after 19 minutes.

Hull were being penalised too often at the breakdown and Caldy started to make good use of the ball and when their second row man Sanders broke in the ’22’ scrum-half Chris Davies scampered over with centre Barlow converting.

As halftime approached Caldy were growing in confidence and when Hull’s Mike Dias was yellow carded, Caldy used the penalty to kick for touch. They won their line-out and the subsequent catch-and-drive try was awarded to their number six Mike Crowe to see Caldy lead 20-10 at half-time.

At the restart, Hull were quickly on the back foot as they faced the elements and a determined home side, but great tackling and good defensive alignment kept Caldy at bay.

However it was Caldy who scored next when the back row man Aide Aigbokae took the ball 30 yards out and went on an angled run to score under the posts with his number eight John Dickinson getting the conversion after 57 minutes.

Both sides had their moments before Hull were able to get in and around the Caldy ’22’ as the last quarter started.
After winning a 70th minute line-out, possession was retained for over 20 phases and eventually good handling saw captain Ali Heard put winger Mike Adlard in for a try which Humberstone converted from the touchline after 75 minutes.
But time ran out for Hull as they came away losing 27-17.