Rugby: Vagabonds ladies set for final game of the season

Separately, 'Vagas' men's grueling schedule continues

Report by Dave Christian:

It’s an away trip to Littleborough for the ladies this week after a thumping 56-5 win at Ballafletcher last Saturday.  

'Borough’s' last home win was at the end of January when they walloped Winnington Park - a quick check of the team sheet that day shows something very similar to the squad which faced Vagas last Saturday although there are a couple of different names too which suggests they may be tougher at home.

Number eight Niamh Clegg was a tower for 'Borough' last week as was Devon Newell on the flank. 

They were eclipsed somewhat though by a 'Vagas' back row which were relentless - Sandy Dawson tackled everything on front of her and was aggressive over the ball while Greeba Taisia and Maylyn Campbell bagged five tries between them. 

Add all that to Freya Crowe’s pace out wide and 'Vagas' will be tough to bet against.

As always with away games, availability is the issue - at full strength Vagabonds will be hard to beat but it won’t take much. 

A win could give the girls third place, they would move to second but Eccles have an extra game to play and are likely to finish second on current form.

Vagabonds men's punishing schedule continues

Vagabonds head off to Aston-under-Lyne this week for their third away game in March and still have one more to come. 

They lost 32-24 to Ashton in the home leg which means that away points are probably unlikely - that said, Ashton aren’t that far ahead of Vagabonds in the standings, points scored are not significantly awry, however points conceded does show a big gap with Vagas having suffered a couple of big reversals.

Vagabonds have four games left including this one, but only one is at home.

Their prospects for more points look slim, however an away game at Dukinfield is looming which could be their best chance. 

The season finale against promotion chasing De La Salle is definitely not one to savour and 'Vagas' record is perhaps a good indicator that the Divisional Organising Committee got the composition of the league wrong. 

Two have already dropped out and 'Vagas' along with a famous rugby name Orrell are struggling.

2025 started with points for Vagabonds back in January but the jam-packed fixture list has created injury issues for them and they’ve struggled to recover. 

The very fact that this game is away will also add working commitments into the equation, much will depend on who is available to travel and whether any of the walking wounded have recovered. 

The Ballafletcher leg was competitive enough and there could yet be away points.

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Fixtures 

Saturday, 15 March 2025

Counties 3 ADM Lancs/Cheshire

Ashton-under-Lyne v Vagabonds @ Ashton (KO TBC)

Womens NC2 North (South)

Littleborough v Vagabonds @ Littleborough (KO TBC)