A Cheshire Cup semi-final against our arch rivals from Caldy was always going to be a titanic battle. So far this season, Caldy have held the upper hand, beating us twice on their way to the league title. At long last, however, we were not hampered by county call ups and school commitments. Although still missing a couple of key players, this was the strongest side that we had fielded all season. Going into the game the lads knew that we would be in for a tough battle but were confident of victory.

The first half was a very close affair. Caldy started strongly but the Wirral defence held firm. It was then Wirral’s turn to crank up the pressure but the Caldy defence could not be breached. Eventually it was Caldy who made the breakthrough, winning quick line out ball before releasing their strong running backs to score in the left corner. The conversion was missed. Wirral quickly hit back as Jimmy Annetts coolly slotted a penalty from the ten metre line. With a minute to go to half time, the Caldy prop, Joe Parsonage suffered a serious leg injury. Best wishes to Joe for a speedy recovery! As Joe needed lengthy treatment on the pitch, the referee decided to blow for half time early and to add an extra minute to the second half. Half time score 5 – 3 in favour of Caldy.

The half time reaction from the Wirral players was very positive. We felt that our forwards did have the upper hand and, if we could continue in similar vein, tries would soon come. The opening fifteen minutes of the second half was totally dominated by Wirral. Jimmy Annetts quickly established a 6 – 5 lead by kicking another penalty. As the forwards continued to dominate, more space became available for the backs. A great move down the right wing resulted in Jimmy Annetts going over for our opening try. Within minutes, a similar move resulted in a try for James Kolokotroni. A third try soon followed as Tom Spriggs picked up a loose ball on the half way line and stormed down the pitch before putting in Craig Dolan for a try in the left hand corner. Jimmy Annetts converted two of the tries. A 3 – 5 deficit had now been turned into a 25 – 5 lead. Caldy were not going to give up without a fight and they were soon back on the attack. It was now our turn to be disrupted by injuries as in quick succession we lost two of our influential back row, Tom Maynard and James Reeve, together with Tom Spriggs due to injury. Caldy went over for two tries, one of which was converted, to reduce our lead to 25 – 17. The Wirral team were not, however, going to let this game slip away. With an 8 point lead they comfortably saw out the remaining few minutes for a well deserved victory.

This has been a very frustrating season for this side. Throughout the season we had to put up with players being unavailable for a variety of reasons. Even today when we had more players available than usual, 4 of the squad were missing. The players have, however, always shown great commitment and have never let their heads drop. This commitment has now been rewarded and we can look forward to yet another Cheshire Cup final.

Graeme Roberts
Colts Manager