Wirral rugby club secure historic promotion to Championship

Caldy RFC secured a remarkable promotion to the Championship after a tense 13-9 victory over Sale FC on Saturday at Paton Field. Two late Ben Jones penalties made the difference after Sale had led 9-7 with three minutes left on the clock.

James Robins slotted six points for the visitors to put them into a first half lead before an Adam Aigbokhae converted try meant the hosts led at half-time 7-6. A third Robins penalty put Sale back in front 9-7 and they resisted a dominant second half performance from Caldy. When National 1 top points scorer Jones missed a kick for Caldy in the last 10 minutes, it looked as if Sale would win and take the title.

However Jones showed his resolve and quality and with just three minutes left he slotted a 50 metre penalty before kicking three further points a minute later. Caldy held on to win 13-9 and sparked jubilant scenes at the final whistle as they won the National 1 title and were promoted to the Championship, the second tier of English rugby.

In arguably the biggest rugby match between two Cheshire clubs this century, 3,000 supporters packed into Caldy’s Paton Field ground. Sale dominated the early exchanges as its back line stretched Caldy wide with a series of miss passes from stand-off Robins, giving opportunities for their pacy wingers. A couple of attacks by the visitors seemed destined to provide them with scores until several last ditch, pile driving tackles by Caldy flanker Callum Ridgway, and second row Sam Dickinson, stopped Sale dead in their tracks.

Sale could not break through or go round Caldy and eventually settled for six points from the boot of Robins. It took a good 20 minutes before the home side got a real foothold in the game. A huge touch-finding-penalty from