Rugby: Douglas back on the road at Altrincham Kersal

Both Vagabonds teams also on their travels this weekend

After drawing a blank against the Regional 2 North West league leaders last weekend, Douglas' attention turns to what looks on paper at least to be a closely-matched contest at Altrincham Kersal this weekend.

Altrincham Kersal and Douglas sit seventh and eighth in the standings respectively with just one point separating the two heading into Saturday with Douglas having played a game fewer at this stage.

Whilst they boast a strong home record of four wins from five currently, Douglas have picked up just one win on their travels so far, a 36-5 win at Widnes in December 2024.

One of those home successes at Port-e-Chee saw them beat their opponents this weekend 37-14 in the reverse fixtures back on 19 October, 2024.

Vagabonds head to Burnley

Report by Dave Christian:

With their first win secured Vagas head to sixth-place Burnley this weekend is Counties 3 ADM Lancs/Cheshire. 

There’ll be some euphoria in the squad from last week’s defeat of Orrell however Burnley are a different prospect with five wins from ten outings including a 54-10 win at Ballafletcher as recently as 16 November. 

Pace in the wide channels did the job for Burnley that day and Vagas will need their quick men in tip-top form.

There were injuries last Saturday for Mitch Wells and Archie Benson - Wells will be out for a few weeks and that will leave a gap in the front row. 

Jon Ferguson is capable of stepping up but the older guard of Joe Louw or Rob Martin may yet get a nod. 

Gavin Turnbull didn’t play last week either and if available he’ll give a lift to the forwards, last Saturday’s form player was Tom Gascoyne and he can’t always travel meaning Turnbull could be the man to fill the gap at eight.

This will be a tough game for Vagas and should be a good indicator of how far their rejuvenation has come since Christmas.

Vagas Ladies away at Eccles

Last time out Vagas lost by two points to Leigh in a simply epic clash at Ballafletcher. 

This week they travel to Eccles who they beat 22-7 at Ballafletcher on week one of Womens NC2 North (South), Vagas sit in fourth place in the standings just behind Eccles. 

The two sides have met nine times in all with Vagas winning the stat battle seven to two, this coupled with the earlier win suggests Vagas to be slight favourites to take the points. 

Eccles however have beaten league leaders Leigh this season too so could be tough to beat at home.

The whole squad performed against Leigh - The forwards won ball, Becky Dunne and Lauren Ellison worked well together in the back line and Maylyn Campbell was outstanding with or without the ball. 

Vagas are more than capable of winning this game and kicking on towards the promotion spots.

Nomads host Vikings in Manx Shield part two

Western Vikings travel; to Ballakilley Park on Saturday as the Manx Shield gets underway again in 2025. 

Nomads are building to a Cheshire Bowl tie against Oldershaw on 25 January and will want to get their travelling team out, They beat Ramsey in a friendly last Saturday which shows they’re building nicely. 

Vikings were in the same County competition but defeat at Nomads earlier in the season put them out.

A couple of Vikings have been getting some part time league action with Vagabonds and they’ll be aiming to make life difficult for Nomads but on paper at least this should be a Nomad win.

Elsewhere on Saturday Ramsey host Douglas Casuals in a friendly as Douglas try to rebuild their second team which lost its way during the pandemic, along with Ramsey, Vagabonds and Nomads’ second teams. 

The formation of Douglas casuals is a good indication that some green shoots are finally emerging on the domestic scene.

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