Ground Control

An early exchange of penalties in the first 10 minutes resulted in a nett 3-6 advantage to Douglas after 15 minutes. There was no real pattern to the game at his point as defences held their positions, preventing any real opportunities.

The first try came when the Manchester defence were wrong-footed when the referee quite reasonably allowed Douglas to play a knock-on advantage. The score under the posts was far too easily ran in so that the first quarter finished with Manchester at a 3-13 disadvantage.

Manchester started to test the visitors’ defence, with Chris Nuttall in particular, coming close to finding the gap. Although the home backs looked comfortable, the forwards certainly weren’t and a series of scrums became something of a struggle. When another penalty was conceded as a result, the 3-16 gap that opened up looked a concern.

This was clearly recognised as half time approached, with Matt Davies ably supported by Luke Tyrrell making a lot of ground and into the Douglas 22. Unfortunately the move was halted by the referee for no clear reason (although it did involve a lot of arm waving) and a clearance to half way was made. Something special was needed to reduce the deficit and this arrived courtesy of an elusive run by Mark Bolton back deep into the 22. When the run was stopped illegally, two quick tap penalties by Matt Beasley proved unstoppable and the break was reached at a reasonably satisfactory 10-16.

Manchester started to control the game after half time - the scrum had improved, the lineout was working well and a shuffle of the backs as a result of an Ian Jinks injury didn’t lose any shape at all behind the pack. Douglas were lucky to have kept ahead when the hour mark arrived, as Manchester had the lion’s share of territory and possession. With Douglas pinned in their own 22, Manchester gave them a get-out-of-jail card when the referee’s attention was caught by an attempted punch and Manchester were down to fourteen men at a crucial stage.

After being under the cosh for so long, Douglas had a new lease of lie and the pressure point switched to the other end of the field. Perhaps this was the defining period, as Manchester resisted well so that the sin binning passed with no effect on the score, leaving the last 10 minutes with just a converted try between the sides.

With the home team back to their full complement, the pressure was soon back where it had been. The stronger scrum set up a platform and an impressive forwards try was scored by Harry Noar to close to within a point at 15-16. Doug Day held his nerve to convert the score into a Manchester lead for the first time at 17-16.

The nerve jangling scoreline seemed to last an eternity as the referee’s watch had somehow accrued a lot of time for long forgotten stoppages. With Day having established the one point advantage, it was now his turn to defend it and if anyone put a hard shift in (with overtime), it was the inside centre with some timely tackles being made to snuff out the last minute(s) threat.

When the final whistle blew, it was the single converted score in the second half that had clinched a fourth consecutive home win to leave the Grove Park faithful happy, while last season’s pacesetters returned to the Isle of Man with their losing bonus point. Douglas’ current position shows how quickly things can change in this league as Manchester continue to improve theirs.