SURE-sponsored Vagabonds left themselves with too much work to do after a soft opening 20 minutes away at Liverpool Collegiate in South Lancs/Cheshire Division Two on Saturday.
Vagas shipped four converted tries in the opening quarter, all down the left touchline as the Manx defence were too slow to fan out and cover overlaps out wide, and the savvy Collegiate backline made good use of the space; simple handling was enough to make the overlaps count.
Pacey young winger Tom Featherstone helped himself to two tries, as did outside centre Rob Connelly, with No.10 Chris Lloyd adding the conversions and a penalty for a rapidly compiled 34-0 lead.
From there Vagas ground themselves back into the game, particularly through some strong scrummaging, which early in the second half led to a try as Vagas turned over a Collegiate set-piece and drove over for scrum-half Leigh Kennaugh to finish off.
But even with the lion’s share of territory and possession, Vagas struggled to add more points, with centre Ross McCulloch going over the try line twice only to be held up, and other opportunities ending in frustrating handling errors.
Connelly bagged an intercept try from a Vagas attack in the last play of the game to run salt in the wounds and leave the home side with a 39-5 win.
l Also in South Lancs/Cheshire Division Two on Saturday, a depleted Ramsey squad suffered a 73-0 defeat away at third-placed Dukinfield.