A BELOW-PAR performance from Huddersfield revealed the harsh realities of playing National League rugby as they were second best by a distance against Caldy at Lockwood Park on Saturday.

Yes, they were hampered by the loss of key prop Jim Howard and play-making scrum half Damian Clayton, but, for the first time this season, they were clearly not ‘at the races’ against a strong-running Caldy side who totally dominated for much of the game.

In truth, Huddersfield did well to hold the visitors to just 13-9 at half time, but in the second period the Wirral men ran in three converted tries, while at the other end of the field coach Mark Sowerby’s men never truly threatened Caldy’s line.

Young second-team scrum half Joel Hinchliffe worked hard on his first team debut, while stand-off Chris Johnson kicked three penalties and put in some hard graft on the tackling front, but too few of Huddersfield’s experienced hands failed to show the drive and grit which is going to be needed this season if they are to survive in National III North.

Undoubtedly Caldy were a good side and will probably be one of this season’s frontrunners, but Field simply gave them too much time and space to move the ball.

Sowerby admitted: “We made them look like world beaters!”

Caldy’s Gavin Roberts and Johnson exchanged penalties in the first five minutes, and Huddersfield’s fly-half pushed his side ahead with his second strike in the eighth minute after the visitors were penalised for offside.

But then Caldy began to exert pressure and midway through the half right winger Andrew Soutar found space down the flank, and after skipping through some poor defence he off-loaded to supporting full-back Mark Turner for the game’s first try.

Roberts added the conversion, and a 25th minute penalty when Field were caught going over the top.

Home skipper Mark Whitehead had half a chance from the re-start, but his attempted pass went to ground.

Johnson reduced the deficit to just four points with a 45-metre penalty after Joel Hinchliffe had been prevented from playing the ball, but Field’s No10 was then clattered after a late tackle which earned a yellow card for Caldy flanker Matt Lamming.

Alex Shaw got the second half away to a promising start when he picked up near his own 22 and sprinted a good 50 yards downfield, and had the run ended in a score, then perhaps it might have been a different story, but an attempted drop goal from Johnson sailed wide, and from that point on it was virtually one-way traffic.

Roberts, who didn’t miss a single kick added a 47th minute penalty which brought a sin-binning for Field’s No8 Nick Sharpe, and then added the conversion to a try from scrum half John Broxson as Caldy piled on the pressure.

Huddersfield rang the changes around the hour mark as Chris Gough, Sam Slater, James Mortimore and Danny Ramsden were all given a run-out, but nothing could halt Caldy’s march, with further scores from Sam Dickinson and Roberts, the latter converting both of them to round off a hard lesson for the home side.

Huddersfield: Ainsworth, Sutcliffe, Paxman (B), Paxman (L) (Mortimore 60), Shaw, Johnson, Hinchliffe (J), McPhail (Slater 58), Davies (Gough 49), Stringwell, Hinchliff (G), Harris, Sharrock (Ramsden 60), Whitehead, Sharpe.

Caldy: Turner, Soutar, Roberts, Woof, Murra, MacPherson, Broxson, Woods, Dowridge, Salisbury, White, Bradshaw, Lyon (Mercer 58), Lamming, Dickinson.

Referee: Mick Reid.