Rugby: Douglas face a tough ask against Firwood Waterloo

Two potentially exciting clashes in Manx Trophy this weekend

Report by Dave Christian:

Douglas host Firwood Waterloo in North One West this Saturday. Waterloo are in 5^th place in the standings and will be a stern test for Douglas. Waterloo have lost three from their eight games but all three defeats were against teams above them in the standings and they secured a losing bonus point each time. The team has “possible contender” written all over it. Last time out prop Simon Hoddinot started at number eight and picked up a man of the match award which indicates his form. The Martin twins Craig and Kyle are as sharp as ever and Luke Hyland is enjoying a run at ten and kicking well.

Everyone will need to be on tip top form though, if Douglas are to pull this one out of the hat.

Two good looking games in Ravenscroft Manx Trophy

There are two juicy looking encounters in the Ravenscroft Manx Trophy this weekend as the competition nears its conclusion. Vagabonds host Douglas under the Friday night lights at Ballafletcher to get the weekend up and running and then on Saturday afternoon, leaders Ramsey travel to the Field of Dreams at Ballakilley to take on Southern Nomads in a potential banana skin of a game.

Vagas lost the earlier leg of the “old firm” match up 31-5 at Port-e-Chee however the return leg could well be a little different. Douglas had no first team game that weekend and their bench players stiffened up the Celts. That luxury won’t be available to them this week. That said, the Celts looked fairly strong against Southern Nomads last Saturday. Bryn Snellgrove controlled the game well from ten and he hasn’t been a first team regular this season. Hooker Dave Sherwin went in for two tries too which suggests that forwards and backs were working well. Vagas are likely to be without skipper Luke Purdy so we can expect to see Joe Louw at loose-head. He scored Vagas’ only try in the earlier game. Mark Oldfield is likely to be missing as he serves his suspension from an earlier red card which means Vagas will be relying on Nathan Gibson for big carries and big hits.

On Saturday, Ramsey make the big trip South with a shadow of the squad which beat Nomads 121-0 at the Mooragh. Missing are Micheal Flynn, Ben Hardman, Callum Clague, Dave Keenan, Dan Bonwick, Kieran Kneale, Pete Frankwick and Fintan Cummins. This rematch will be a real test of Ramsey’s squad depth as there are a number of call-ups from the B team to help fill the gaps. Nomads, if all fully fit, will pose Ramsey a problem. George Callister was excellent last Saturday at scrum half but will need the forwards to do a job for him and allow him to get the ball to Django Kinley who scored last weekend but could’ve done more if he’d had more ball.

Milestone for Western Vikings

The Peel men celebrate the club’s thirtieth birthday this weekend with a friendly match between players from the sunset city itself and those who live elsewhere. The game is open to all Vikings past and present and additional training has been put on to help those who want to return for a brief celebration trot. There’s even silverware up for grabs in the form of The Tony Gale Trophy, named after one of the founding members who sadly passed away earlier this year.

After the game, all hands are headed for The Creek and the Western Vikings Mhelliah which gets underway later at 7.00pm and promises to be its usual lively affair.

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Fixtures 12 & 13 November

Friday 12 November

Friendly

Vagabonds U15 v Douglas U15 @ Ballafletcher ko 6.30pm

Ravenscroft Manx Trophy

Vagabonds v Douglas Celts @ Ballafletcher ko 7.30pm

Saturday 13 November

North One West

Douglas v Firwood Waterloo @ Port-e-Chee ko 2.15pm

Ravenscroft Manx Trophy

PDMS Southern Nomads v Ramsey @ Ballakilley ko 2.15pm

30^th Anniversary Friendly

Western Vikings Town v Western Vikings Country @ QE2 ko 2.15pm