Hartpury 57 - Caldy 36
Mitch Eadie stars amid Hartpury try-fest success
by Luke Jarmyn and Jack Tozer, at the Hartpury University Stadium
MITCH Eadie went from sinner to saint in a double try-scoring display as Hartpury won in style to keep their hopes of finishing the season in the top-half of the Championship table alive.
Openside Harry Short and scrum-half Mike Austin also scored two tries a-piece while Hartpury utilised their forward dominance to score eight tries in total during an enthralling end-to-end clash at the Hartpury University Stadium.
It continues the side’s winning streak over struggling Caldy, and completes a season double, with the Cheshire side not having won for three months and at risk of finishing the season at the bottom of the league.
With the sun beaming in Gloucestershire, it took John Barnes’ Hartpury side barely four minutes to utilise their pack and Short peeled off a driving maul, after a quick line-out move, to score between the posts.
England 7s veteran Nic Royle intercepted to run in Caldy’s first try from 50 metres out, but within a minute the home-side countered, scrum-half Mike Austin causing chaos and setting up wing Alex Morgan who dashed over the try line.
Short scored in similar fashion to his first on the 14th minute down the left. But Eadie saw yellow for tackling off the ball and Caldy pounced with two tries in five minutes.
The Cheshire side’s hooker Ollie Hearn peeled off a driving maul to score, before stand-off Lewis Barker broke through the red shirts to set up outside-centre Connor Wilkinson and make it 19-17.
With Eadie back just before the half-hour mark, the West Country-side turned the tide and pivotally scored 24 unanswered points in 21 minutes.
Austin scored the bonus point try from a quick tap penalty, before fly-half Harry Bazalgette continued another impressive day from the tee, kicking a penalty kick over just before half-time.
Morgan produced a bit of egg-footballing brilliance, dribbling the ball past his opposite number after the ball fell short of his hands, and offloaded to Austin for a stunning spectacle of a try.
The home-side dominated possession, and a Bazalgette’s cross-field kick caused chaos in Caldy’s ranks, allowing Eadie to cut a beautiful line and slide over.
The game’s end-to-end nature carried on well into the second half with Caldy not wanting to give up until the very end.
Wing Will Robinson finished a quick Caldy line-out move on the left for the Ravers bonus-point try.
Then just after the hour-mark Eadie muscled over for his second try, before Caldy prop Monty Weatherby powered over from a quick re-start.
Swinging like a pendulum, in the final minutes Hartpury hooker Ethan Hunt peeled from a line-out to score the home-side’s eighth try before Caldy scrum-half Ollie Wynn dodged several tacklers to slide over for the visitors sixth try – and the fixture’s 14th - just before the final whistle.
Man of the Match, Hartpury No.8 Mitch Eadie said: “We’re pleased with the win, but there’s still some yo-yoing when it comes to our games, we need to find consistency and hopefully can continue this form.
“We strive to play expansive rugby with confidence, and this result will really bring that confidence we need for the coming weeks.”
Despite the big victory, Hartpury head coach Mark Cornwall admitted: “it’s good to get a big victory like that but there was also a lot of things that were rusty.
“You could see the rustiness in our performance and there’s still a lot to improve on going into next week.”
Caldy coach Richard Vasey said: “The error count was too high which inevitably led to pressure being put on us. That’s ultimately why we lost by the amount we did.”
Although he was on the losing side, Caldy scrum-half Ollie Wynn said: “There was moment in the game where we played well but it’s all about taking the positives which is what keeps you coming back each week.”
Hartpury:
Tries: Short 4, 14, Morgan 9, Austin 30, 42, Eadie 51, 62, Hunt 74
Conversions: Bazalgette 5, 15, 31, 43, 52, 63, 75
Penalties: Bazalgette 40
Drop goals:
Caldy:
Tries: Royle 7, Hearn 20, Wilkinson 24, Robinson 55, Weatherby 68, Wynn 77
Conversions: Barker 25, Kilcourse 69, 78
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Stats:
Hartpury:
Penalties 6
Lineouts won 15
Lineouts lost 1
Scrums won 4
Scrums lost 0
Sin Bins / Reds: 1/0
Caldy:
Penalties 11
Lineouts won: 7
Lineouts lost: 1
Scrums won: 3
Scrums lost: 0
Sin Bins / Reds: 0/0
Teams (15-9; 1-8):
Hartpury: Ioan Jones, Alex Forrester (Ollie Holliday 54), Louis Hillman-Cooper, Robbie Smith (Wilf McCarthy 63), Alex Morgan, Harry Bazalgette, Mike Austin, (Joe Williams 52); Aristot Benz-Soloman (James Gibbons 63), Will Crane © (Ethan Hunt 63), Jon Benz-Soloman (Joe Rees 69), Jack Davies, Dale Lemon, (Cameron Cobbett 63), Sam Lewis (Josh Gray 58), Harry Short, Mitch Eadie
Caldy: Rhys Hayes, Nic Royle, Connor Wilkinson, Mike Barlow (Mike Cartmill 61), Will Robinson, Lewis Barker (Matthew Kilcourse 61), Ollie Wynn (Chris Pilgrim 79); Adam Aigbokhae (Nathan Rushton 58), Oliver Hearn (Matthew Gallagher 58), Joe Sproston © (Monty Weatherby 58), Callum Atkinson (Sam Olyott 51), Adam McNamee, Matthew Deehan (Ciaran Booth 60), Tristan Woodman, Callum Ridgway.
Attendance 670
Referee Dan Rhys Jones
Half time score: 29 - 17 (to Hartpury)
Star Players: Mitch Eadie (Hartpury) / Ollie Wynn (Caldy)
