Rugby union: Gloomy day on the Wirral as Blackheath beaten by Caldy

Blackheath lost 26-10 to Caldy last weekend on a dull and grey afternoon on the Wirral, writes Graham Cox.

There was little from a Club perspective to lift the gloom despite the welcome return of Markus Burcham and Harry Fry making his 100th appearance for the South Londoners.

Blackheath enjoyed the majority of possession and territory in a stop-start contest littered with penalties.

Club had the better of the set-piece but Caldy’s more clinical execution won the National 1 encounter.

Caldy conceded four penalties in the opening eight minutes, only for a strike at goal to fall wide, and a kick missed touch.

Blackheath opened the scoring on 18 minutes after they secured a second scrum penalty.

Dom McGeekie tapped back clean lineout ball and James Newey’s pass found Nick Foster to cut a fine angle to open the scoring.

Caldy’s first incursion into the Club 22 resulted in three points for wing Ben Jones.

Blackheath conceded further penalties, allowing loose-head Adam Aigbokhae to be driven across from lineout ball.

Blackheath still had opportunity, but, having been guilty of going off their feet just short of the goal-line, they butchered a quickly-taken tap-penalty by losing the ball forward.

Jones added three more points as the Cheshire side went into the break with an 11-5 lead.

More frustration followed for the visitors as a second missed touch-kick enabled a fine move from the ensuing scrum for Caldy centre Michael Barlow to send full-back Elliot Gourlay across for a try.

Blackheath launched countless phases with Burcham and Andrew Boye making minor incursions, but the Caldy defence was resolute, holding the visitors at bay on their 22 until a moment of inspiration saw Jake Lloyd collect his own chip forward and sprint across the try-line, reducing the deficit to 16-10.

A cynical challenge by Tom Sanders resulted in a yellow card for the Caldy second row. Boye stormed over the goal-line from lineout ball to make the most of the numerical advantage.

The officials judged the ball held up, and with the new law change allowing the hosts to clear their lines, the sting had gone from Blackheath’s resurgence.

A penalty for crossing enabled Jones to make his third successful strike, pushing Caldy’s lead beyond a converted score with just eight minutes remaining.

The wing racked up his 11th point following a neat lineout move which put flanker Callum Ridgway across for a third try.

Blackheath are at home to Chinnor on Saturday.