Rugby: Vagabonds Ladies return to action

Douglas travel to Bowdon and two ties in Manx Cup this weekend

Report by Dave Christian:

After a month off Vagabonds Ladies return to the field on Saturday to face Broughton Park in the early kick-off at Ballafletcher.

Broughton are second in the Womens NC1 North West standings and have won 4 from 6 including a 58-7 win against an understrength Vagas back in November.

While Vagas will remain without skipper Lauren Ellison who is out for the season with a leg injury, they will have Corrina Daley back at number eight.

With home support they should make a better fist of it than the away leg.

Douglas hit the road

Douglas head to Bowdon for their first road trip of 2022 and will be looking for a valuable away win.

The Altrincham outfit sit just below Douglas in the North One West standings and Douglas beat them by just two points just three weeks ago when they visited Port-e-Chee.

Away games are always a measure of a team due to the commitment required from the whole squad and much will depend on availability.

Niall Killey has been a welcome return to the squad since Christmas and youngster Harry Swayne has slotted in well and can cover more than one position in the back line.

Two ties in Ravenscroft Manx Cup

The second round of the Manx Cup takes place this Saturday with two  fixtures. Douglas Celts play Ramsey at Port-e-Chee while Vagabonds face up against Southern Nomads at The Field of Dreams.

Douglas will probably have a tough job against Ramsey. The Celts held Vagabonds to a 12-7 half time lead a fortnight ago before a spectacular second half collapse which saw them ship 64 unanswered points after the break.

Much will depend on who does or doesn’t make the trip to Bowdon with the first team and its possible that the Celts may have some non travellers.

Skipper Conor McCaughan had a little cameo for Emerging Nomads last week and seems to have overcome his “man flu” successfully and his presence in the back row will be just what his side need.

Ramsey have a few injury significant issues. Scrum half Dan Richmond and stand off Tom Moffatt both remain out with injury.

Dan Bonwick is likely to fill in at ten with perhaps Danny Howard taking the scrum half role which he is growing into with every game.

At Ballakilley Park, Nomads v Vagabonds is probably the pick of the round.

Nomads hassled and harried Ramsey two weeks ago and are feeling a little more confident in themselves.

Percy Hampton ran in two for the seconds last week and will no doubt play a part in this game.

Vagas however with a combination of youth and experience were ruthless against Douglas. Youngsters Cole Donnelly and Callum Murray both played their parts especially late in the game when tired Douglas legs left running room on the pitch.

The formbook points to a Vagabonds win, but Nomads will make a game of this.

**

Fixtures 5 February

North One West

Bowdon v Douglas @ Bowdon ko 2.15pm

Womens NC1 North West

Vagabonds v Broughton Park @ Ballafletcher ko 12.00pm

Ravenscroft Manx Cup

Douglas Celts v Ramsey @ Port-e-Chee ko 2.15pm

PDMS Southern Nomads v Sure Vagabonds @ Ballakilley ko 2.15pm