As bonfire night approaches there could be fireworks this Saturday as Douglas who currently lie in second place take on league leaders Wirral at Port E Chee. With the Rugby World Cup drawing attention to the game in general provided the weather holds and continues to annoy the water authority then it could be an ideal time for the uninitiated to visit their first live Rugby match in watch is sure to be a no holds barred encounter.

For both sides it is a crucial match as realistically they are both fighting over one promotion place as Manchester Wanderers, who have a couple of games in hand, are probably the form side in the league having remained unbeaten this year in all competitions. Neither side will therefore wish to drop any points this weekend although the onus will probably be more on Douglas as the home side. This is especially the case as they dropped a point at home last time out.

Douglas should be able to field a reasonably strong side as the majority of their injury worries appear to have cleared over the last couple of weeks. I am privy to selection but in general it is more consistent than the leadership of the conservative party and I would therefore expect that the majority of the side that secured a valuable two points away at Marple will start. The one change should though be at prop where Ben Dutnall should return carrying a little less weight than previously. This will be a welcome return as Ben is a highly influential player in the Douglas side and has an important roll especially around the tackle area.

Wirral have had an outstanding start to the season although probably they are a little bit surprised to be heading the league at present. They may have been fortunate as to how the games have fallen but you still have to beat the opposition. Their strength would appear to be in their pack which from their team photo on their web site appears to be fairly large and experienced and I have to admit that I did at first I did think I had stumbled across the FBI’s most wanted list.

If Douglas are to win they will need to subdue the Wallasey pack and take their chances against a side that has conceded on average less than a converted try a game. I would expect therefore that coach Graeme Atkinson will want to play a sixteen man game, sorry fifteen man rugby, we can not all play to Clive Woodward’s rules! Provided Douglas can do this they have the talent to win in what could be a firecracker of a game. However they must remember to play the conditions and if the weather is against them not to force pass. If they do they I would predict a narrow Douglas win but my tipping is not much to go on as I never thought Samoa’s reserve team would push England so close last week. I just hope that like fireworks and many other things in life after the build up and anticipation it is an hour and a half of excitement ending with a big bang and not a huge anti climax as it fails to go off.