DAN HYDE was delighted with his side’s victory at Caldy last week – for more than the obvious reason of getting back on the winning track!

For it was back at the beginning of October that Huddersfield were on course to beat Caldy at Lockwood Park where they were leading 25-23, before a last-minute penalty (incurred by Hyde himself) gave visiting fly-half Richard Vasey the chance to ‘nick’ victory at the death.

Ironically, last Saturday’s game at Paton Field on the Wirral, was almost the reverse mirror image of the first encounter, with Huddersfield’s own ace marksman Chris Johnson delivering the ‘coup de grace’ in injury time after Caldy were pulled up for an infringement at the ruck.

“That win meant a hell of a lot to me, particularly as it was down to me that we lost the game at our place,” admitted Hyde, who is now back in training himself following an ankle operation just before Christmas.

“In all honesty we’d no right to win it after getting stuffed in the line-outs, where I think the count was something like 14-1 in Caldy’s favour.

“But the fact we came through it was testament to our excellent defence and we certainly poached a lot of the ball as the lads managed to keep turning their possession over, while Johnno (Chris Johnson) was outstanding on the day.

Like the previous clash between the two sides earlier in the season, Johnson again scored all his side’s points with three penalties and a drop goal – he scored all 25 down at Lockwood Park in October – which no doubt would go some way to make up for the disappointment of the ‘crossbar calamity’ last time out at Hull, when the wind robbed him of sealing another victory!

“Despite all their possession, they never really looked like breaking us down, until experienced centre Gavin Robert came off the subs’ bench late on, and when they worked the ball out wide he managed to stand Mike Clark up on the line and dive over for the game’s only try.

“But then I thought we showed tremendous character as we worked our way downfield, and must have gone through almost 30 phases of ball retention, before we were handed a penalty, and Johnno struck the penalty into the wind, and straight through the middle of the sticks.’’

One player who Hyde has high hopes for is former YMCA prop Lawrence Sanderson, who was a second-half substitute for Alex Battye who went off after getting a heavy knock on an ankle.

“Sanderson looked rock solid when he came on and played a big part in our defensive effort. He’s been working hard in training since he joined us, but obviously he needs to get some minutes under his belt.

“It’s going to take him two or three games to get up to match speed, but once he’s there and ready, I think he’s going to be a proper handful.

“Overall last week, though, it was a massive collective team effort to repel Caldy at every opportunity. I was very proud of them and I think skipper Nick Sharpe is leading the lads really well.”

The line-out is obviously a major concern to Hyde at the moment, particularly having lost one of their main jumpers Ben Hoyle to a leg injury at Hull, which could rule him out of action for a number of games. However, the head coach has hinted at the possibility of a mid-season signing which could help resolve that problem.