2E2 Douglas travel to Merseyside this weekend to play Liverpool Collegiate in their second away fixture of the South Lancashire and Cheshire Division Two season.
The Manx side have played Liverpool Collegiate in the past and there have been some good battles and many bruising encounters. Collegiate are usually a very strong and physical team and Douglas will be expecting more of the same this time around.
There are a few changes this week to the Douglas line-up, yet again showing the squad that they have at their disposal.
In the forwards, Niall Killey and Carl Markl-Ferns are unavailable so James Lidgett will move from flank in to hooker and Daryn Thompson moves into blindside flank from the bench.
Ben Pote is also welcomed back to the front row at tighthead in place of Dan Creer.
The backline also has a few changes - in the centres the hard-hitting James Wood will be making his season debut and will be looking to make his mark early on together with Andy Evans who joins the squad having missed last week’s game to travel to uni.
The bench this week for Douglas is once again very strong, Dan Creer, James Creasey and Stephen Tansell show the physicality that Douglas have in their ranks and when called upon will no doubt make an impact.
Last week Douglas were far from the finished article against a good Marple side and, despite the magnitude of the win, the Port-e-Chee outfit were sluggish and didn’t play with enough conviction and structure.
The introduction of Thompson to XV should hopefully add a steadying influence on the young Douglas pack.
Douglas captain Scott Goodall knows that this will be one of the biggest tests of the season for his side as Collegiate took Ormskirk to the wire last time out who are a well-organised outfit.
This match against another team relegated last season will surely provide the perfect gauge to show where Douglas are in their development.