Rugby: Big day at Mooragh Park for Manx cup finals

Two trophies to be decided up north in domestic season finale

Report by Dave Christian:

The domestic rugby season comes to a close this Saturday with the finals of the Manx Cup and Plate competitions which are both at Ramsey’s Mooragh Park. 

The Plate Final between Southern Nomads and Vagabonds is the warm up game at 1pm with the Cup Final between Ramsey and Douglas kicking off at 3pm.

The Plate on paper should be a Vagabonds win - they beat Nomads 53-0 just a few weeks ago in their Cup qualifying game but just twelve months ago Nomads pulled off a surprise 33-10 win in the 2023 Plate final.

Things can and do change in a year though, Vagas had a solid run in Counties 4 ADM Lancs/Cheshire while Nomads appear to have gone off the boil a little, a shot at retaining their plate may give them a little boost.

The Vagas tight five should take charge up front - Mitch Wells and Jon Ferguson have had solid seasons for Vagas and if Joe Louw returns, they’ll be a real handful. 

Nomads’ strength probably lies a little further back with halfbacks Callister and Young plus Tony Quinn’s speed, they’ll struggle with little or no ball through and I suspect the Vagas forwards will strangle their possession.

The final if its anything like last week, could be a belter. 

Douglas dominated the opening half 31-7 but the second half scoreline was only 24-17 with Ramsey coming back into what was a brutal game. 

Douglas will be missing Jack Laughnane who has returned to New Zealand and Shay Waterworth was rested last week with a niggle but could return. 

Ramsey will still be without Eddie Lord who won’t be fit for the final but have crossed fingers for Joey Callow and Brandon Atchison who both left the field with knocks last week.

Blake Snell and Sam McCord were both excellent for Douglas in their 55-24 win last Saturday and Ramsey will struggle to contain them, but have had a good first-hand look at what is needed to win. 

The set piece held firm-ish but some unforced errors allowed Douglas in and the Douglas side is so well organised that gaps to exploit with the ball in hand were few and far between. 

The Cup final has Douglas’ name written all over it but nonetheless it is a cup final and with a fair wind, Ramsey are capable of a better result than the previous outing.

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Fixtures 27 April 2024

Friendly U16

Ramsey v Hoylake @ Mooragh Park (10am KO)

Manx Plate Final

PDMS Southern Nomads v Vagabonds @ Mooragh Park (1pm KO)

Manx Cup Final

Ramsey v Douglas @ Mooragh Park (1pm KO)