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A 6am start from Eastham with only 16 travelling players this was going to be a tough day if Saints were to claim a victory and they were made to fight all the way by their hosts.
Douglas had kindly agreed to an early kick off to suit the visitor’s travel plans, so following a hearty breakfast on the island at the nearby Abbey restaurant, Saints arrived in good time. The pitch, whilst on the heavy side, had plenty of grass on it with no standing water and kick off was at 1.15pm.
Saints started brightly and took an early lead after six minutes when Jon Bonner broke from the ruck on the Douglas 22 and dabbed down between the sticks, an easy two points for Dai and the visitors were seven points to the good.
Douglas equalized on 15 minutes following good play in midfield crafting a gap for their centre to cross 7-7.
Another excellent line out day for Saints was beginning to once again provide the platform for the Saints pack to kick to the corners and look for lineout opportunities, Fred came up with the ball from a driving maul on 20 minutes and powered over to give the lead back to Saints 7-12.
Saints were now looking to turn the screw and build a decent lead and on the half-hour mark Ewan Nolan found space in the midfield to exploit and go over to bring the score up to 7-17.
On 35 minutes the home side infringed on the edge of their 22 by straying off side, the decision was taken to keep the scoreboard ticking and take the easy three points on offer 7-20 and Saints were looking to get to half time.
Unfortunately, Douglas had other ideas and managed to fashion a converted try on the stroke of half time 14-20 and all to play for in the second half.
Again Saints started the half brightly and it was Fred that went over for his second try of the day on 44 mins to take the score to 14-25 and secure a four try bonus point.
The 16th man was called upon on 57 minutes and Saints had the bare bones for the last 23 minutes.
Douglas went in on the 68th minute when their 10 ran a good support line off the centre and took a short ball in the tackle to touch down under the posts and bring the scores to a nail-biting 21-25.
Saints have shown their resilience on a few occasions this season but this game would test their resolve not least because the bench was empty and the Douglas fans were baying for a home victory.
The away side remained patient and continued to kick intelligently into the corners and play in the opposition 22.
On 77 minutes after good pressure and ball retention, Will Grabe in his unfamiliar position of scrum half managed to scramble over the line, Dai duly converted and the final score was 21-32.
A massive effort from the 16 lads who all to a man left nothing out on the pitch.
Douglas deserved something, a bonus point would have been a fair reflection as they played their part in a good game played largely in the right spirit. The post-match hospitality as always was first class from Douglas as was the journey home.
Douglas (I.O.M.)15 Kyle Martin14 Brendan Kelly13 Aidan O’Shea12 Jack Shimmin11 Harry Hewson10 Bradley Bowmar9 Luke Hyland1 Simon Hoddinott2 Robert Todd3 Owen Carvin4 Conor Garland5 Ralph Clarke6 John Dutnall7 Sam McCord8 Craig McgeeDouglas (I.O.M.) SubsS1 David SherwinS2 Philip CringleS3 Bryn Snellgrove
Anselmians15 Adam Bramhall14 Joel Ashton13 Ewan Nolan12 Ransford Otutaha11 Thomas Gilbert10 David Morley9 William Grabe1 Kostja Vezanovs2 Daniel Salisbury3 Derek Salisbury4 Jack Richards5 Samuel Gregory6 Jack Sanders7 Jonathan Bonner8 Fred ClarkAnselmians SubsS1 Robert O’DonnellS2 Robert O’Donnell
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