News

DOUGLAS face a tough away trip to the ‘Gentlemen of Moore’ in South Lancashire and Cheshire Division Two this weekend and will have their work cut out.

That is if the pitch remains playable as frozen pitches caused havoc with the league fixtures last time out. Games held in the Isle of Man were actually the only ones to go ahead with Douglas and close neighbours Vagabonds winning both those encounters over visiting English teams.

Moore have made things difficult for visiting Douglas sides over the years, big packs and the muddy sloping pitch not lending itself to the style of play favoured by the men from Port-e-Chee.

But this year has seen the young Douglas side rip up many a form book and just go out and play whatever the conditions and whomever are the opposition.

Some unavailability through work and the imminent arrival of baby Goodall could well mean that skipper Ryan Maddox will have to juggle some players around.

Somewhat handily, the Manx Cup semi-final win against Ramsey has allowed some of the younger players to be blooded in a full-blown encounter with another league side.

The 2E2-sponsored Douglas team will be riding high after a gritty win last weekend, while Moore will be rested having enjoyed a week off from league action.

This game has all the makings of another cracking league encounter between the two sides.

The “old firm” of Manx Rugby, Douglas and Vagabonds will meet in the final of the BSM Manx Cup after successfully seeing off Ramsey and Southern Nomads respectively in the semis. Douglas beat Ramsey 24-20 in a great game of cup rugby, while in the other semi, Vagabonds made light work of Southern Nomads winning 48-5.

Douglas finally broke their Ramsey hoodoo. This was the fifth time the clubs had met in the last eighteen months and the first time Douglas won. They started a little sharper than Ramsey and only some tough defending stopped Niall Killey and Will Latta from breaking the line in the opening exchanges.

Douglas finally took the lead in the tenth minute courtesy of a Scott Goodall penalty. Two minutes later Ramsey equalised through Fintan Cummins on their first foray into the Douglas half. Two more penalties followed from Goodall as Douglas continued to edge it in territorial stakes and that was how it stayed until half time.
The game really came to life at the start of the second half. Fintan Cummins was hit late just three minutes in and he recovered sufficiently to knock over the resulting penalty to reduce the Douglas lead to three points at 9-6. Four minutes later though, Douglas finally made the breakthrough they wanted.

Killey’s break up the middle got them inside the Ramsey twenty two. The forwards set up a driving maul and as Ramsey’s defence tried desperately to kill the drive, Callum Carine sneaked in round the blind side for the opening try and a 14-6 lead.

Ramsey hit back from the restart with another Cummins penalty when Douglas’ back line was caught offside. From that restart there were more points at the other end. Ramsey conceded a penalty and when Goodall’s shot at goal rebounded off the crossbar, Douglas were able to turn the ball over and shunt prop Rob Todd in for their second try.Goodall converted and Douglas were 21-9 in front with half an hour still to play.
Ramsey then started to come back into the game.

The tight scrum started to dominate and the  flow of penalties started to increase. Cummins bagged another two on sixteen and twenty minutes to bring his side back into it at 21-15. Goodall however nailed a crucial kick in the twenty third minute to give Douglas a nine point lead which they held to the very end. A well worked try from Ali Trace down the left wing was the final play of the game for Ramsey, but it was little more than a consolation.

2e2 Douglas Vs Ramsey on 11th Feb 2012 has been moved to Ballaflectcher (Vagabonds)

In the other semi-final,2e2 Douglas host Ramsey at Port-e-Chee.

This game was played at Mooragh Park last season with Ramsey 26-8 winners. League form this time around is very, very different.

Douglas are up in the promotion places while Ramsey are struggling just above the relegation zone after a large number of close-season personnel changes.

The league match at the Mooragh this season was, however, very close and a late penalty for Douglas only just earned them a draw. This all makes for a fascinating clash this time around.

Both sides prefer to play a running style game and with Port-e-Chee likely to be a little on the soft side, I suspect the team that adapts quickest will win.

Douglas played on it last week so they must start as favourites. Ramsey had an enforced week off so they perhaps may be slightly fresher.

Both sides are likely to be missing their first choice stand offs. Douglas’ Bryn Snellgrove has gone off travelling and Ramsey’s Fintan Cummins is recovering from surgery.

News has come through that Douglas skipper Ryan Maddox has chosen to rest some players after their massive performance beating fellow table-toppers Ruskin Park last week.

The idea is to name some development players who have impressed with the club’s second string, who themselves are pushing for domestic honours, giving them much-needed experience if called upon in the final few games of the season.

This has meant a complete back row and front row shuffle from last week’s victory, while in the backline only Maddox himself, Will Latta, Paul Lievers and Conor McCaughan remain in position with usual fullback Scott Goodall coming in for Mike Hebden at fly-half and three of the Douglas youth rounding off the backs.

This could be a gamble but the 2E2-sponsored side will be looking for players to stake a claim for first-team places for the remainder of the season against a tough Ramsey outfit.

Both matches are intriguing for different reasons, however, the outcomes based on current form at least, should be no surprise and I suspect we’ll see Douglas versus Vagabonds in the April 28 final.