WITH one eye on the start of the Championship season in a fortnight’s time an experimental Caldy side travelled to the North East to face Newcastle Falcons for the first time in the Premiership Cup.

Caldy had challenges from the start dealing with Newcastle's 4g pitch but did enough to worry their premiership opponents despite the final scoreline of 66-13. 

Falcons caught Caldy cold, scoring an opening try in the opening two minutes of the game, through a fast paced move that was expertly finished off by Iwan Stephens.

This inspired the Ravers who came into the game and and were rewarded in the 18th minute with a try from Ted Stagg, on his return to the first team after a sustained period out through injury.

After Falcons' Ollie Fletcher saw yellow, a Matt Killcourse penalty gave Caldy an unexpected lead, but Newcastle weren’t shaken and retook the lead just two minutes later through a try from Ben Douglas after a great flowing move.

Two further tries came before half time through Michael Van Vuuren and George Wacokecoke as Falcons took control of the game.

In the second half, Newcastle looked to dominate Caldy and extended their lead after 10 minutes into the half through Ollie Fletcher and it looked like it could be a long half hour for the Ravers.

Killcourse scored a try to bring the visitors back into the game after a great Ravers move, but this only inspired the home side who scored quality tries showing the gap between professional and semi-professional rugby.

Although Caldy were disappointed with the result, the final Premiership Cup game was good preparation for the forthcoming Championship season.

Caldy have a week off before the start of the Championship season with a home match against Nottingham.