Bowden 37 – 5 Douglas
Old Mutual Douglas travelled for the re-scheduled Division One match sweetened with the incentive that a win could propel the Manx side to fourth in the league above the log jam including the hosts, despite the deduction of five league points prompted by Bowden’s fixture intransigence.
A late flight departure prompted grabbing a take-out at Manchester airport and changing in to kit en-route. The Timperley side kicked off with wind and rain to their advantage, but Douglas started strongly with Dion Spice sniping and youngsters Jean Brul and Nathan Knights making their mark. Line-outs were compromised by conditions, but Douglas then struggled in the scrum against a heavier pack on a wet surface. Bowden pinned the visitors to the corner and pounced on loose ball for a score, which prompted coach Tom Waterworth to make an early change and bring Liam Murphy in at second-row. Douglas fought back and muscled Mark Magee over the line for 5-5, but cruelly lost Murphy to injury after a bullocking run. Bowden’s advantage up front told, but despite a converted try from fly-half James Carding and penalty for 15-5 at the break, the first period was a success for the visitors given conditions.
Injury to Carl Markyl-Ferns was a blow for Douglas at 50 minutes, but back-row men Stephen Tansell, Nick Hughes and Magee were unflinching and Ben Webb and Riccardo Poloni used their blistering pace in defence. Bowden kept it tight and number eight Willem Landen benefitted again from Douglas errors behind their own line which took the losing bonus point opportunity out of the visitors reach. The final try burnished a scoreline out of proportion, and credit to Douglas for bloody-minded defence to the last. Tom juggled with limited numerical resources very cannily, and Douglas will look forward to another bite at this particular cherry on January 16th at Port-e-Chee.
Touchline – literally one man and his dog at Bowden on Saturday. Port-e-Chee is usually jammed with spectators by comparison, and we’ll be looking for a warm welcome from the Douglas team and touchline on January 16th for the return match
