Rugby: Vagabonds dent Colne & Nelson's promotion chances

Douglas win big in their Manx Cup opener

Report by Dave Christian:

Colne & Nelson were an outside bet for promotion from Counties 3 ADM Lancs/Cheshire and a trip to a struggling Vagabonds seemed on paper at least, a solid chance for maximum points. 

'Vagas' had lost six on the bounce and Colne hadn’t been beaten since 4 January. 

Wet and windy conditions and a stunning Vagabonds performance combined however to give 'Vagas' maximum points in a 36-17 win.

First half tries from Matty Jones, matt Rockwell and Cal Donnell plus two Ollie Howard conversions gave Vagabonds a 19-12 half time lead. 

Dave Goodings and Jake Hargreaves both crossed for Colne with Hargreaves converting his own score.

Early in the second half Sasha Haywood went over for Colne and narrowed the gap to 19-17. 

Vagabonds then came back strongly - Cal Donnell’s second gave them a bit of breathing space and the try bonus point, Tom Gascoyne then made the game safe with ten minutes to play and Ollie Howard converted to make doubly sure. 

Jon Ferguson crashed over in the final play of the game to add icing to the cake.

Douglas win their Manx Cup opener

Douglas beat Southern Nomads 64-0 at Port-e-Chee in their opening Manx Cup fixture. 

Shay Waterworth topped the scoring charts with two and there were also tries from Blake Everson, Craig Martin, Kyle Martin, James Ross, Brendan Kelly, Blake Snell, Rich Bell and Niall Killey. 

Nathan Robson kicked seven conversions in the wet and windy conditions.

**

Results

Saturday, 29 March 2025

Counties 3 ADM Lancs/Cheshire

Vagabonds 36-17 Colne & Nelson

Manx Cup

Douglas 64-0 Southern Nomads