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Rugby: Ramsey and Vagabonds face off in Manx Trophy final

Vagabonds Ladies also expect tough encounter with Leigh

Report by Dave Christian:

 

After what seems like a long layoff, Rugby returns to the Isle of Man this weekend with a juicy set of fixtures to start off the new year.

 

However, the North One West clash between Douglas and Broughton Park at Port-e-Chee this Saturday has now been postponed, further information on the reasons behind that is expected to be released in due course.

 

In the Womens NC1 North West Vagabonds host Leigh.

 

Vagas opened their account this season with a 12-12 draw away at Leigh and will fancy their chances at home this weekend. The squad does have a couple of injuries and skipper Lauren Ellison could be one after picking up an ankle injury at the Christmas charity game.

Fixture against leigh have always been tough affairs and the girls are looking forward to fronting up with a big home crowd expected.

 

Ravenscroft Manx Trophy Final

 

Ballafletcher hosts the first final of the domestic season with Ramsey facing Vagabonds under the lights for the Manx Trophy. Ramsey must start as favourites based on their playing record in the competition. In the league phase they won six from six and conceded just thirty five points in those six games. The back line boasts the competitions leading try scorer, Brandon Atchison with twelve and the leading points scorer Dan Richmond with eighty two. On paper the team will take some beating.

 

Vagas by contrast won three from their six. They do however have a number of players who have gained league experience with Douglas in North One West, with Nathan Gibson, Mark Oldfield and Cam Findlay all appearing on the Douglas team sheets and picking up some useful game time.

While the two previous meeting have both gone Ramsey’s way, the game this week may well be much closer than the previous meetings

 

Ravenscroft Manx Bowl

 

With just a handful of games left in the Manx Bowl, the competition is still wide open. Ramsey B lead by three from Vagas Hornets and Western Vikings. A Hornets win this weekend would send the title into the last round of fixtures.

 

Ramsey won 39-22 in their last outing against the Hornets and skipper Neil Hulme will be hoping for a repeat to send the Bowl north for the first time in a few years. A Ramsey win with four or more tries could be enough to confirm them as champions, depending on the result from the Western Vikings v Emerging Nomads game. A Vagabonds win however would mean that the 15th Jan fixtures come into play and could see Vagas meeting Vikings in a title decider.

 

Western Vikings were due to play Emerging Nomads but have had to concede the fixture with a touch of covid in the squad.

 

**

 

Fixtures 8th January

North One West

Douglas P-P Broughton Park 

 

Womens NC1 North West

Vagabonds v Leigh @ Ballafletcher ko 2.15pm

 

Ravenscroft Manx Trophy Final

Ramsey v Vagabonds @ Ballafletcher ko 4.30pm

 

Ravenscroft Manx Bowl

Ramsey v Vagabonds Hornets @ Ballafletcher ko 2.15pm

Western Vikings AWO Emerging Nomads

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