Caldy succumbed to a professional Plymouth Albion performance who ran in three tries despite playing the second half with 14 men after Paul Davis was sent off for a stamp in the scrum on Caldy’s Derek Salisbury moments before the half time break.
Caldy are still missing a number of players through injury and were no match for their visitors who enjoyed their second trip to Paton Field despite the poor weather conditions.
The Devon side were on the attack right from the first whistle and were unlucky not to take the lead in the opening minutes when a penalty went wide of the posts. It wasn’t long before the visitors took the lead after great footwork from George Mills who side stepped the Caldy defence to get the ball to Davis who scored in the corner.
The game became tight with both teams getting frustrated not being able to get into a flow although Plymouth camped in the Caldy half. Each time the team broke they came up against a resolute Plymouth defensive wall that was only thwarted through a Ben Jones penalty on the stroke of half time.
Plymouth started the second half on the defensive luring Caldy into mistakes. A Rhys Hayes kick was charged down by the Plymouth forward line allowing Kelly to score to the delight of the travelling support.
Caldy made the same mistake on the hour mark allowing Mills to score, and it looked as though Plymouth could score each time they ventured forward.
A strong Caldy defence in the final quarter coupled with another yellow for Dan Squire denied Plymouth the chance to take all five points home which their overall performance deserved.
Caldy are still in charge of their own fate three points above the relegation zone, and travel next Saturday to Milton Keynes to face joint top Amptill and District hoping to stop a run that has now seen them win two of the last eleven league games.
