Ben strikes to see Caldy to victory and the title

By JOHN LYON

Caldy………………. 13pts

Try: Aigbokhae 32

Conversion: Jones 33

Penalties: Jones 77, 80

Sale………………….. 9pts

Penalties: Robins 5, 13, 47

THE biggest rugby match between two Cheshire clubs this century was eventually won by the boot of National One's leading points scorer Ben Jones.

With Sale defending a slender 9-7 lead for virtually all of the second half, it looked as though the National One title was destined to go to the Manchester club until Jones held his nerve to kick two penalties in the final minutes to give Caldy the win, the title and promotion into the Championship.

But it was a tight and nail-biting finish to the match, as a relieved Caldy head coach Matt Cairns acknowledged at the end of the gruelling contest.

“It was a nervy affair between two teams who were desperate not to lose,” he said.

“Our defence and forward power won it for us but the game could have gone either way.

“Sale came at us full throttle in the first half and only our outstanding defence prevented what looked like two certain tries.

“Those defensive sets were pivotal.”

In front of a crowd of around 3,000, Sale dominated the early exchanges as their back line stretched Caldy wide with a series of miss passes from stand off Robins to provide opportunities for their pacy wingers. But they couldn't break through or go round Caldy, and eventually they had to settle for six points from the boot of James Robins.

It took a good 20 minutes before the home side got a real foothold in the game.

A huge touch finding penalty from Ben Jones put Caldy five metres from the opposition line and, after Sale prop James Harper was yellow carded for sacking the maul, Caldy's forward dominance saw them able to power over to give Adam Aigbokhae the score.

When Robins struck again early in the second half to make it 7-9 it looked like Sale may just be getting the better of the Ravers.

However, it was Caldy who dominated the following 30 minutes without being able to find a way to score. As this attritional game was entering the final ten minutes there was a sense that one spark could win the game for either side.

An enterprising move by Sale was stopped dead in its tracks by a thunderous hit by Caldy centre Mike Cartmill and when Nick Royle got the break that the home support had been praying for, his chip and chase was thwarted by an unkind bounce of the ball.

However, Caldy's nerveless Jones stepped up to slot home a monster 45-metre penalty, and when he repeated the feat one minute later it signalled the end of the game and crazy scenes at Caldy's Paton Field.

A magnanimous Sale director of rugby, Jonathan Keep, praised Caldy for the win.

He said: “Caldy just had the edge on us but I am very proud of our players, who gave it everything in this huge North-west encounter.”