Preston Grasshoppers vs. Caldy– KO 2.30pm
Cheshire side Caldy travel to Lightfoot Green this coming Saturday and will be completing an unusual run of fixtures which has seen them on their travels for the first four games of the season. A combination of the NCA fixtures matrix and ground sharing with a cricket club are no doubt contributing factors.
Hoppers will be hoping for a better outcome after a disapointing performance at Macclesfield last Saturday and can remind themselves of an important home victory over Caldy at the business end of last season. Caldy on the other hand came away from Stourbridge with the spoils last week and have won two of their three games on the road, the other ones at newcomers Sale before losing narrowly at Macclesfield.
A look back at the last home game saw a number of Milestones reached. Newcomer Charles Hough scored his first try for Hoppers as did Sam Gale whilst Mark Murray made his fiftieth League appearance for the 1st XV and Sean Taylor’s try took his League points total past Steve Kerry and into third place behind Paul Bailey and Chris Glynn.
The Inaugural senior game against today’s visitors was a pre-season warm-up fixture at Lightfoot Green prior to the 2004/5 season. Caldy had climbed the league ladder with a succession of promotions from the depths of South Lancashire and Cheshire 3, eventually gaining promotion to N2N as Champions of North 1 in 2007.
There have been sixteen league meetings between the two clubs, all in consecutive seasons since Caldy’s last promotion with our visitors currently holding the upper hand. Hoppers will be looking to put the heavy defeat at Priory Park behind them and reduce the current seven wins to nine margin in games against Caldy.
The first league meeting was at Paton Field back on the 6th of October 2007 when Hoppers turned round a narrow half time deficit to eventually run out winners by twenty points to sixteen.
Photograph courtesy of Mike Craig – Ally Murray celebrates Sam Gale’s first try for Hoppers
