Rams of Reading 21-32 Caldy

CALDY stand on the verge of one of the greatest sporting stories of the year after a hard fought victory at Rams of Reading on Saturday.

The match was extremely hard fought with both sides not able to get into a rhythm until the quarter hour.

The breakthrough came when Nye Thomas broke through the pack and got the ball to Lucas Titherington to open the scoring.

Caldy continued to press and were rewarded with a second try from a five-metre lineout, a catch and drive saw Ollie Hearn go over in the corner and Jones converted expertly for a 14-0 lead.

It took the hosts until the 27th minute to come into the game, when a misplaced pass in the midfield saw Michael Dykes score in the corner and Drew Humberstone scored the conversion.

The rest of the first half was a battle and neither side could breakdown two very resolute defences.

Both sides came out in the second-half determined for the win.

It was Caldy who stuck the first blow through a penalty from Ben Jones to give the visitors a ten point advantage that was reduced to three just moments later when the home side were awarded a penalty try on 50 minutes.

Back came Caldy restoring their advantage just five minutes later when Captain JJ Dickinson slotted in to score. There was a bit of a scuffle afterwards that saw Tom Sanders sent to the sin bin.

Rams took advantage of the extra man to score a try that brought them within three points just after the hour mark.

When Sanders returned there was more flow to the game from both sides.

Nerves for the visitors were eased with just six minutes left when Rams were reduced to 14 men, Vince Everitt was sent to the sin bin for a trip tackle on Michael Barlow and Ben Jones placed the penalty perfectly.

The game was sealed in the last minute when Nick Royle took the ball from the bottom of the scrum and ran in to the corner to claim the all important bonus point to the delight of the travelling supporters.

The 32-21 victory ended the season on the road with a great record, the Ravers haven’t lost on their travels since September and was their 16th consecutive victory in all matches home or away as they go for their second successive promotion next weekend.

Gareth Davies' men will now play 2nd place Sale FC knowing that victory will seal Caldy's place in the second tier for the first time in the club's history. Sale came from behind to beat relegation threatened Blackheath on Good Friday.