THE Caldy fortunes took a turn for the better as they recorded their first success of the season in National Two North League last Saturday.

It finished 30-22 against Luctonians at Paton Field which was against all the odds.

Luctonians arrived on the Wirral on the back of a five match winning run and were expected to comfortably overturn Caldy who had lost five on the bounce.

But the home side produced a determined display in a see-saw affair and deserved to triumph.

Rich Vasey landed an early penalty and there were first-half tries via Gavin Roberts and Craig Ross both goaled by Vasey.

It meant a 17-10 score at the break with Luctonians gaining two unconverted touch downs.

A converted try for the visitors made it 17-17 in the third quarter. A Vasey penalty advanced the score to 20-17 before Luctonians went ahead with their fourth try.

But Caldy were not to be denied and their third touch down plus a conversion and a penalty from Vasey saw them home.

It was a 4-3 try count in favour of Luctonians but the accurate kicking by Vasey proved crucial for the winners.

Wirral suffered their first defeat in North One West League 24-33 at Widnes and it cost them top place in the table.

Widnes went to the head of the pack and Birkenhead Park to second place after a 39-31 success away to cross river rivals Liverpool St Helens. Wirral are now third.

The Clatterbridge side edged the first period 12-7 at Widnes thanks to tries via Keith Mahon and Matt Loon plus a Dan Harvey conversion but then the Lancashire outfit hit them with a three try burst plus two goals in a devastating eleven minutes spell after half-time.

Early in the last quarter Widnes were in again with the kick making it 33-12 but Wirral to their credit rallied for tries through Rob Pearl and Chris Speed plus another kick by Harvey.

One more conversion would have given Wirral an extra bonus point but at least they snatched a single thanks to their four tries in all.

Birkenhead were 22-3 to the good at the half way stage and appeared to be cruising at LSH but the home side hit back well and it was not until Park skipper Dave Hall landed a penalty with the last kick that the points were made safe.

There were fears the match might not be completed when the referee at the threequarter stage said he had suffered injury but he eventually struggled on to see out the 80 minutes.

Hall, Sam Chidley and Peter White scored first-half tries for Park and Hall two conversions and a penalty.

Later, Hall and Chidley each grabbed their second touch downs both goaled by Hall.

But then an interception try put the Lancashire club right back in the picture before Hall struck to take his personal match points tally to 24.

Park have been boosted by the return of Danny Rich from Caldy and he has been joined at the Upper Park by two more ex Caldy players Peter and Rob Doolan.

New Brighton continue to set a good pace in South Lancashire/Cheshire One. Their latest outing at Sefton realised a 41-17 victory and they have a five points advantage over Douglas, Isle of Man.

Anselmians played out a tense 25-25 draw at Manchester but Hoylake failed 8-13 at home to Winnington Park in a tight affair.

Both local clubs in Division Two were beaten. Port Sunlight surprisingly crashed 0-87 at Ormskirk and winless Wallasey 3-31 against Isle of Man visitors Vagabonds.

Division Three leaders Prenton were too strong for Buxton in a 26-0 finish whilst Oxton Parkonians just made it 13-10 at Congleton.

Oldershaw and Ellesmere Port did not play. Caldy are on the road to Darlington Mowden Park this Saturday with high hopes of another success against a side below them in the table.

Birkenhead Park have Broughton Park as visitors to the Upper Park with Wirral entertaining Wigton.

New Brighton face a big date at home to Douglas, Anselmians take on Northwich at Malone Field and Hoylake are due at Glossop.

Other fixtures include Port Sunlight v Orrell, Wallasey at Southport, Ellesmere Port at Knutsford, Oldershaw at Linley and an Oxton Parkonians v Prenton derby at Holm Lane.