CALDY won their final group match in the Championship Cup against Richmond 24-19 on Saturday but the result was not enough for the Wirral side to progress.

The visitors burst out of the blocks from the kick-off and took the lead after two minutes when some great ball handling from Jimmy Litchfield gave Miles Wakeling space to score in the corner.

The game then became tight with both sides trying to figure each other out with a number of penalties conceded.

Richmond’s poor discipline allowed Caldy to attack and they took full advantage from the maul, allowing Adam Aigbokhe to bundle the ball over.

Richmond managed to hit back almost immediately with a good carry to the line by the forwards allowing Myles Scott to dive over in the corner.

Back came Caldy again after a quick scrum, a nice tip-pass to Rhys Hayes who went over in the corner with Gourlay adding the extras to bring the game level.

There was still time for Richmond to take the lead before half-time through a converted try from Zuriell Makele after some great phases of play.

Back came Caldy and in first-half injury time - Rhys Hayes scrambled over for his second try of the afternoon just as the referee blew for half-time.

The second half started like the first, with both sides unable to break the other down taking the flow out of the game.

With both teams knowing there was no chance of qualifying, the game had a friendly feel to it with the difficulty to break through until the hour mark, when a Nick Royle interception try - similar to the one that he scored at Richmond earlier in the season - secured the bonus point for Caldy - and third place in Group C.