DOUGLAS v HALTON

After having had the pleasure in recent weeks of watching sumptuous Welsh back play it may be a bit unfair to say it is back to the humdrum this week as Douglas take on Halton in their last home league fixture of the season. But in reality if Douglas are to win they will have to grind out a victory up front almost England style and after all when they were winning their supporters never commented on the quality or the entertainment factor.

  The game did have the ingredients of a classic encounter as when they met earlier in the season Douglas had the advantage up front but Halton had the edge in the backs. I am not sure if they are rugby league coached but their backs have a very rugby league style of play with direct straight running lines. Their fly half is also probably one of their biggest players and if you can stop him playing you have a fair chance of stopping Halton.

  This is though probably easier said than done though since Christmas they have had a slight dip in form struggling against some of the lower sides in the division whilst beating their promotion rivals. They still have a chance of promotion but to achieve this would have to win their remaining games and hope that Manchester Wanderers slip up at least once. As the two sides still have to play each other their promotion prospects are by no means dead.

  In the pack Douglas should really be available to pick from strength as apart from long term absentee Dave Wood the only unavailabilities are flankers Nick Horsthuis and Peter Moorhouse. Although with flanker Piers Allen back on the Island captain Andy Malpass should still have strength in depth.

  In the backs though it is a slightly different matter with John Bateson, Ben Manuja, Bobby Ranscombe, John Ledwidge, Gareth Leather, Ben Scott and probably Gwyn Davies all unavailable for selection. The return of Martin Reany from a long term shoulder injury is timely as hopefully will be the return of a couple of the student members from university. Otherwise cover would be thin and whilst at times this season watching the lack of Dynamism in England ’s backs has left you with the impression of a load of pregnant women running for a bus it is not an image I want to be reminded of every week.  

 With the clocks going forward last weekend kick off has been put back to 2.30pm for this final home league fixture of the season. I would hope that Douglas could go out with a bang but with the untried combinations in the backs you would have to favour the visitors especially if conditions remain good as their strength is in their backs. However if we get a typical Manx spring weekend with the rain and sleet being blown horizontal then it should be a game for the forwards which is where Douglas have he edge in which case the game could go either way.

GETHIN TAYLOR