Rugby: Douglas on the road at Burnage

Vagabonds Ladies back on home soil

Report by Dave Christian:

Weather permitting, fourth-placed Douglas head to seventh-placed Burnage this weekend in Regional 2 North West. 

Douglas have had a solid start winning two from three. 

The game they lost against a much fancied Sandbach side was also very tight with Douglas ahead in the closing quarter only to leak a couple of scores at the end. 

Douglas also battered Altrincham Kersal in their last outing while Burnage only just squeezed past them 24-21 the week before. 

Burnage, however have home advantage and historically have won six out of their nine matches against Douglas.

This season’s Douglas squad brings many headaches to coach Phil Cringle.

He’s assembled a group which has riches in most positions - Nathan Robson could return at scrum half after injury however his deputy Craig Martin did such a great job against Kersal that he could hold the jersey; Josh Campbell in the front row adds to the other options Douglas already have and Kyle Martin could easily replace Jonty Cope at full back if the latter doesn’t recover from a knock.

Early results suggest a Douglas win, but the all-weather surface at Burnage is always a challenge and maximum effort will be needed right from the off.

No action in Counties 3 ADM Lancashire/Cheshire

Vagabonds had already moved their scheduled game with Dukinfield before Storm Amy had been considered. 

Ramsey’s trip to Clitheroe has however been postponed after Amy intervened with their ferry travel.  

It remains to be seen how many game actually go ahead in this league with the weather sweeping through the north west on Friday ahead of the stormy wind.

'Vagas' Ladies entertain Didsbury

Didsbury Toc H are the guests at Ballafletcher this weekend as they visit Vagabonds in Womens NC2 North (South). 

Vagabonds were somewhat mauled at home by Sale a fortnight ago and coach Jack Caine will want to get the wheels back on his wagon. 

Statistically however form may be against them - the two sides have met four times previously with Didsbury winning all four. 

The Manchester side also won their season opener beating Macclesfield 17-0 two weeks ago.

The 'Vagas' v Sale game was however cut down to ten aside and this suited Sale much better. 

A return to 15-a-side should help Vagabonds who looked to have a stronger set of forwards. 

Stand-out players from the Sale game were Lauren Ellison for her vision and kicking and, of course, Freya Crowe for her pace and finishing. 

Becky Dunne did plenty of running as did Leona McGovern who put away a training ground move for a score.

With a full strength side playing 15s, Vagabonds are capable of winning but they’ll need to keep focus for the full eighty.

One game in Hartford Homes Manx Shield

Western Vikings host Southern Nomads in the Shield this week with both sides looking for a first win. 

Nomads lost their opener to Douglas Celts while Vikings have yet to play. 

Nomads were, however struggling for player availability last week and hopefully that blip should now pass.

Vikings have a proper squad of grafters - Ed Knight and Harry Goodwin usually lead the way but the father and son combo of Juan and Harvey Callister are usually good to weigh in too. 

If available, Nomads skipper Finn McGregor leads his team from the front and with an experienced half back pairing and the creativity of the Craine brothers, they should start as favourites.

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