A grandstand finish was on the cards in rugby’s Ravenscroft Manx Bowl competition on Saturday.

But a late Covid concession by Western Vikings last week left Ramsey B needing a bonus point win to claim the Manx Bowl.

They beat Vagas Hornets 45-25 and did indeed claim the Bowl with one round of fixtures to spare.

The result is that these final two fixtures are essentially dead rubbers, but there are many players yet to take to the field in 2022 and the games will be played to conclude the competition.

This weekend, newly-crowned champions Ramsey B face Emerging Nomads at Mooragh Park.

Nomads’ last outing was on December 4 and skipper Mike Quayle wants to get some game time ahead of the Cup and Plate competitions which start in a week’s time.

Nomads also have some new youngsters to christen now that the RFU moratorium on 17-year-old players has ended.

Ramsey had three young debutants last week against Vagas: Archie Callaghan, Michael Broderick and Ross Quayle all made senior debuts and all scored.

If this young threesome is available again on Saturday, the Bowl holders could be a tough nut for Nomads.

Western Vikings’ last game was also on December 4 and Ed Knight’s men will also be desperate for some game time.

They were stymied last week with Covid isolations and hopefully they’ll now be clear to allow the game to go ahead.

A Viking win here could see them finish as runners-up and they ran Vagas close in the reverse fixture, losing by only three points in a 22-19 thriller.

Ian Marks’ Vagas side will also have an eye on a second place finish but will need to play a full 80 after a major batting collapse in the final quarter last week which saw them leak four unanswered tries.

Fixtures

Saturday, January 15:

North One West

Douglas v Bowdon @ Port-e-Chee

Ravenscroft Manx Bowl

Ramsey B v Emerging Nomads

@ Mooragh Park ko 2.15pm

Western Vikings v Vagabonds Hornets

@ QEII ko 2.15pm