Rugby Fixtures (24 Oct)

Vagas Ladies take on Emerging Nomads

Ramsey host Douglas South this Saturday at the Mooragh Park and have an opportunity to hit the top of the table with early leaders Douglas North having a free week. It will be tricky for the Northerners though. They lost to Douglas Celts last season in the Manx Cup and if anything, this Douglas South side is likely to be a little stronger. In the other game this week, Southern Nomads travel to Vagabonds to see if they can pick up their first points of the campaign.

Ramsey are undoubtedly improved on where they were last season. The addition of Danny Howard, Tom Moffatt and Peter Frankwick has helped and the close result against Vagabonds last Saturday bears this out. It was nonetheless a defeat and Ramsey won't find life any easier against Douglas South. They ran their clubmates to within five points last week and that was a side which beat Vagas by twenty-four points on the opening weekend. Home advantage may count for something here, but Douglas must surely start as favourites.

At Ballafletcher Vagabonds take on Southern Nomads. The Southerners have finally got their wish for regular competition against League standard opposition however defeat against Ramsey in week one must have the wondering. They'd taken Ramsey last season in the Cup but had struggled against Vagabonds and Douglas Celts. Their earlier meeting with Ramsey this season saw a four try to two defeat at their own Field of Dreams. The coaching staff will be working hard this week for the trip to Vagas where they can expect Mark Oldfield to be a total menace with or without the ball and former Nomad Ross McCulloch looking very impressive with the ball in hand. I suspect a Vagabonds win here.

The Manx Bowl looks to be a two-horse race after two rounds with Emerging Nomads and Vagabonds Hornets leading the way. These two avoid each other on the field until 6 November when they meet on a Friday night at Ballafletcher. Elsewhere in the Bowl, Vagas Ladies head to The Field of Dreams to face Emerging Nomads. The tag variant of the game has seen some large score lines and this should be no different. This will be the Ladies third run at it and they will be gaining valuable experience which could yet turn over an unsuspecting mens team.

Finally, at Poulsom Park Castletown take on Western Vikings in what could be a tight game. Kunal Patel and Jim Emmett both looked sharp last Saturday albeit in tag, while Vikings suffered a big home defeat. Town will surely be feeling more confident and with home advantage may just have a slight edge.
 
 
Fixtures 24 October all ko @ 2:15pm
Manx Trophy

Ramsey v Douglas South @ Mooragh Park
Vagabonds v PDMS Southern Nomads @ Ballafletcher

Manx Bowl

Vagabonds Hornets p-p Ramsey B
Emerging Nomads v Vagabonds Ladies @ The Field of Dreams
Castletown v Western Vikings @ Poulsom Park

Report by Dave Christian.