Nomads claim Shield

Southern Nomads are celebrating after clinching the Shimmin Wilson Manx Shield with a 12-10 win against Douglas B.

A first half try from Jon Hill gave Douglas a 5-0 lead at the interval after they had played the first half with a huge tail wind.

However, Nomads hit back in the second half.

Leading try scorer James Hammal powered over and Al Corrin converted to put Nomads ahead 7-5.

Martin Jones added another try to push the lead out to 12-5 before a late try from Ady Shimmin pulled Douglas back into contention.

Nomads were not to be denied and the conversion attempt was missed allowing them to confirm title glory and keep their 100 per cent record.

Ramsey B secured a fine second place in the table with a thrilling 23-21 victory over Vagabonds B at the Mooragh Park.

Vagas had the wind advantage in the first half and quickly racked up a lead.

Simon Heggs kicked an early penalty and shortly afterwards he sent Matt Rockwell clear for a try.

Christian Goelz bagged Vagas’ second try on the half hour and five minutes later Heggs was on target with the boot again to stretch the lead to 16-0.

Ramsey had the final say in the first half though when Chris Melvin crashed over to make it 5-16 at the break.

Two second half penalties from Ramsey skipper Darren Ideson narrowed the gap further and when he converted Mike Craine’s try, Ramsey B were ahead 18-16 with just a few minutes to play.

Vagas thought they had snatched the game at the death when Noel O’Connor crossed for a try to make it 18-21 but Ramsey had a final shot in the locker and replacement wing Matt Cheeseman took his chance well, crossing for a try and confirming his side will finish runners-up in this year’s Shield.

In the battle at the basement, Castletown came out on top with a 10-5 win over Emerging Nomads.

Paul Drake and Ross Stephenson both picked up tries for Town and Nomads hit back with a try from Sam Looker.