Rugby: Vagabonds Ladies beaten in season opener

Douglas lose out at Eccles whilst 'Vagas' men defeated by Garstang

Report by Dave Christian:

Vagabonds’ opener in Womens NC2 North (South) ended in a 73-36 defeat away at Leigh. 

Despite the scoreline there were plenty of positives for Vagabonds - Charlotte Hird, Lois Mooney, Triona Kelly, and Georgie Quayle all made their debuts and the team came away with six tries. 

Bliss Murtagh scorched her way to a hat-trick, Maylyn Campbell picked up a couple and there was a try from Becky Dunne with Sammie Macdonald adding three conversions.

Douglas defeated at Eccles

A hat trick from Eccles wing Gavin Ackers-Johnson was the big difference in Regional 2 North West as they beat Douglas 33-28 in Manchester.

Eccles led 19-7 at half time after two tries from Ackers-Johnson and one from centre Byron Read and two conversions from Daniel Holland. 

Sam McCord crossed for Douglas and the conversion from Bryn Snellgrove kept Douglas in touch.

In the second half Douglas added to their tally with tries from Cal Dentith, Kyle Martin and Liam Kirkpatrick and Bryn Snellgrove added three more conversions but Chris Thomas and Ackers-Johnson made it safe for Eccles with two conversions for Will Parkinson to ice the cake. 

Douglas did however pick up two bonus points from the game.

Garstang on top at Ballafletcher

Counties 3 ADM Lancs/Cheshire leaders Garstang beat Vagabonds 42-24 at a sunny Ballafletcher. 

Garstang raced into a 28-0 lead after a slow Vagas start. 

Despite the deficit the team knuckled down but were unable to recover from the early blows - Tom Gascoyne bagged a hat trick from the back row and Archie Benson added a fourth try to secure a try bonus point. 

Cam Findlay converted two from the four.

Ramsey sneak a win at Southern Nomads

Ramsey chased the scoreboard for much of the afternoon but a late try from scrum half Sam Corlett made the game safe.

Tries from Rob Craine and Conor Garland plus a Mark Young conversion gave Nomads a 12-7 half time lead with Jacob Corteen crossing for Ramsey’s reply and Josh Leece converting. 

Josh Corteen leveled the game for Ramsey early in the second but Nomads took it back with a Michael Craine try. Josh Corteen then snatched his second to level the game at 17-17.

With just over ten to play Michael Craine also picked up his second of the afternoon and Mark Young’s conversion gave Nomads a seven point lead. 

From the restart Danny Howard raced in for Ramsey but the missed conversion left them trailing 24-22. 

Nathan Robson put Ramsey in front 25-24 with a penalty five from the end and a very late try from Ramsey scum half Sam Corlett made it safe for the Northerners.

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