Rugby: Douglas and Vagas on the road

Vagas Ladies play final home game of season

Fixtures 

Saturday, 8 March 2025

Regional 2 North West

Crewe & Nantwich v Douglas @ Crewe & Nantwich KO 1.30pm

Counties 3 ADM Lancs/Cheshire

Ormskirk v Vagabonds @ Ormskirk KO 1.00pm

Womens NC 2 North (South)

Vagabonds v Littleborough @ Ballafletcher KO 1.30pm

MEC Crossfield Tens

Ramsey, Castletown & Western Vikings @ Mooragh Park KO 2.15pm

Report by Dave Christian

Douglas away at Crewe

Douglas travel to Crewe & Nantwich this week in Regional 2 North West and will be hoping for some away points. 

Their hosts sit next to bottom in the standings and are in a big relegation battle with Eccles who sit just three points adrift but have a game in hand. 

Douglas by contrast are still chasing a sixth place finish and while that won’t win any silverware it would still be their highest league finish at this level.

The Manx side will miss regulars Si Hoddinott, Charlie Henthorn and Sam McCord but cover from Owen Carvin & Ralph Clarke for Hoddinott, Cal Dentith for Henthorn and Jonty Cope for McCord all seem to be working as is the Nathan Robson/Josh Duncan half back pairing with Robson picking up man of the march last week. 

Vagabonds travel to Ormskirk

Vagas head to Ormskirk this weekend in search of some points on the road in the counties AMD Lancs/Cheshire. 

The two met on day one of then current season way back in September with Ormskirk taking the points 3-13 at Ballafletcher. Since then, neither side has really prospered. 

Ormskirk have six wins from seventeen outings while Vagas are three from seventeen. Vagas also suffered last week when their crippling injury list meant they conceded against Bury and have suffered a five point deduction in the process.

Vagas’ results don’t make good reading however they are consistent. Ormskirk by contrast are something of a rollercoaster. Wins have come against supposedly bigger teams like Bury, Clitheroe and Burnley however there are also defeats against some of the struggling teams like Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield and Orrell and it gives the impression that they struggle with consistent team selection.

Vagas desperately need some of their sick list to be well again. Last week they were counting over fifteen unavailable with one niggle or another. On the plus side, Jed Snell was fine and in fair form too for Western Vikings against Southern Nomads. Vice-captain Matt Rockwell is rumoured to be indestructible as is second row Jon Ferguson. If they get lucky with a few returnees, they can build a team around these guys and if it’s the right day, maybe, just maybe sneak something from Ormskirk.

Vagas Ladies final home game

Littleborough are this week’s visitors to Ballafletcher for Vagas’ final home game of the season in Womens NC2 North (South). Its International Womens Day too and all the stops are being pulled out. At 1245 there’s a sponsor lunch with Vagas’ Patron Lady Lorimer, Unity Dance School provide the pre-match entertainment and afterwards Vagas U15 play Ramsey and of course the 6 Nations will be on in the clubhouse.

Littleborough is near Rochdale and the team are currently bottom of the standings. Vagas have to play them twice too but a top two finish seems unlikely for the Manx side with a couple of narrow defeats meaning they’ll probably come up short of the points total needed for promotion.

The squad has however come on leaps and bounds this season and are pretty competitive in all areas. The front five is solid, the back row is explosive the half backs have got all the tricks and the back five have pace and power. With a full strength side out they’re more than a match for anyone in the league and with birthdays for Captain Leona McGovern and Vice-captain Becka Hicks midweek, the team will want to deliver a nice present for them. On paper at least, they should do it.