Douglas into Manx Cup Final

Douglas moved into the final of the BSM Manx Cup with a hard fought 36-5 win over Southern Nomads at a cold and wet Port-e-Chee.

The scoreline perhaps is a little unrepresentative as Nomads trailed only 12-0 at half time.

Youngster Alex Nicholson put Douglas in front early on with a well-finished try.

Lee Illott added another midway through the first half and Bryn Snellgrove’s conversion completed the opening half scoring.

Douglas had a bit of a tailwind in the second half and soon put it to good use.

Nicholson picked up his second of the game on 49 minutes and, when Snellgrove converted and added a penalty shortly afterwards, the lead was up to 22-0.

The decisive score came on the hour when Douglas number eight Niall Killey barged over for the game-breaking try and, when Snellgrove added yet another conversion, the game was effectively over.

A late Nomads rally saw Johnny Howarth get them onto the scoreboard with a well worked try down the right wing but it was Douglas who had the last word with a Snellgrove try and conversion to complete the afternoon’s business.

Douglas will face the winner of the Vagabonds and Ramsey tie in the April 26 final.

Meanwhile, Douglas’ second team celebrated the Manx Cup win with a victory of their own in the Shimmin Wilson Manx Shield.

They defeated Castletown 47-0 at Poulsom Park.

Youngster Matthew Hawkins scored three tries on his debut for the club.

There were also tries for Ady Shimmin, Richard Forster, Seb Jeanneau, Dave Ford and Ian Fearns.

Dave Wood kicked two conversions and a penalty to round off the scoring.