Caldy stun Trailfinders in thriller at Paton Field
Action and reaction from the three re-arranged fixtures in The Championship.
On a day when 9th beat 5th, 11th beat 1st, and 12th came within a point of sixth, perhaps this weekend more than any other showed just how competitive this Championship season is...and when it comes to looking back at the action, there is only one place to start: Paton Field.
Caldy 26 - 24 Ealing Trailfinders
Caldy produced the upset of the season, with a dramatic last-gasp win against a previously unbeaten Ealing Trailinders side, to throw the title race wide open again. Despite going down to 14-men after Ross Kane was red carded for foul-play in the 21st minute, the visitors build up a 17-point lead through a Jan Campher try, five-points from the boot of Craig Willis, and a converted Reuben Bird-Tulloch try two minutes after the restart. Nick Royle crossed for Caldy's first points in the 45th minute, but the Trailfinders responded almost immediately when Campher barged over for his second of the afternoon. Ravers left wing Louis Beer then darted over twice in quick succession, with Elliot Gourlay's successful conversions setting up a three-point game heading into the final quarter. Caldy piled on the pressure, and went down to 12-men when Luke Daniels and Jonah Holmes were sinned binned in the closing stages. The decisive moment came when Caldy were awarded a five-metre scrum, and Rhys Hayes flung the ball out wide to Beer, who stretched over to seal his hat-trick and clinch a famous win for The Ravers.
Relive the final seconds of the match below: a clip which has already racked up over half a million views across Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok in less than 24 hours.
Cornish Pirates 37 - 15 Doncaster Knights
Cornish Pirates banked their fifth win of the season with a blistering second half performance against Doncaster Knights to climb to seventh in the league. A cagey first half saw the sides level 8-8 at the break, after tries from Will Crane [Pirates] and Joe Margetts [Knights] and three points each from the tee via Harry Bazalgette and Alex Dolly, for the hosts and visitors, respectively. After the restart, Pirates started to assert themselves more on the game, running in four second half tries, via Tom Kessell, Rusiate Tuima, and a brace from Tom Wyatt. Doncaster scored in the 71st minute through Will Holling, but it wasn't enough to rescue a point for the visitors, as attention now turns to Saturday's clash against Hartpury, who currently sit one point behind them in the table.
London Scottish 19 - 20 Hartpury
The Exiles came agonisingly close to banking an elusive second win of the season, but did manage to pick up a losing bonus point against an in-form Hartpury side at The RAG. James Chisholm got Scottish off a strong start with a try after 12 minutes, but Hartpury hit back with two tries in quick succession from Sam Smith and Will Tanner to take a five-point lead into the break. Matt Jones [Hartpury] and Aaron Morris [London Scottish] traded tries soon after the restart, before Tom Mathews added three points from the tee just after the hour mark. With the hosts trailing by eight points and the clock ticking down, Hayden Hyde scored a converted 77th minute try to set up a nail-biting finale, but it was too little too late as Hartpury saw out the final seconds to clinch a fourth win on the bounce.