CALDY produced a faultless second-half performance to defeat a resilient Hull Ionians side who had taken an eight point lead by the end of the opening 40 minutes.

Ionians were first on the scoreboard when full-back Joe Wright got a penalty from the halfway line after two minutes.

Caldy hit back with a try for Jon Nugent who raced down the flank and cut inside to score under the posts after an excellent pass from Derek Salisbury.

Ionians’ centre, Will Greenwood, found space out wide to score a try after 13 minutes and prop Adrian Longbone increased the home side’s lead to 15-7 soon after. Paul Arnold hit back for Caldy when he scored yet another try to reduce the deficit but Ionians went further ahead after a try by centre Olly Marns and a penalty and conversion from Wright.

Richard Vasey got a penalty right on half-time to leave the score 25-17 to the home side at the interval.

There was only one side in the game in the second half as Caldy scored 24 unanswered points in a near-perfect performance.

Olly Cooper and Gavin Roberts combined well in the centre for the latter to power under the posts for a try and shortly after Andrew Soutar scored out wide after a quality feed from Neil Dowridge. Vasey kicked the conversion and a drop goal to turn the tables as Caldy led 34-25.

Then came the game’s most celebrated moment, as debutant Alex Martland sidestepped four players before crashing over underneath the posts. Vasey converted to take his personal tally to 16 and crown an excellent day for Caldy.