There were two very different games in rugby’s Manx Cup this week, but there were also stark similarities in terms of effort and commitment from all four teams.

On Tuesday at Mooragh Park, Ramsey beat Vagabonds 30-0 and while the scoreline suggests a straightforward win, it was far from it on the night with Vagas scrapping right up to the final whistle.

Ramsey led 15-0 at half-time after tries from Brandon Atichison and Jake Richmond, plus an Atchison conversion and a Fintan Cummins penalty.

Vagas lost stand-off Dan Bonwick to a red card early in the second half which meant that their tailwind advantage was cancelled out. Ramsey capitalised with tries from Rory Nicholson and two more from Atchison who completed his hat-trick.

Full report in this week’s Manx Independent, on sale now.

On Wednesday at a damp and soggy Port-e-Chee, Douglas eased past a plucky Nomads side 50-10.

First-half tries from Rob Todd, Percy Hampton, Jack Shimmin and Sam McCord plus three Shimmin conversions saw Douglas 26-0 up at the break.

In the second half the tries continued to flow with John Dutnall, Luke Hyland, Jake Black and Oli Corkish all getting across the line and, with Shimmin converting three, they were 50-0 up with just over 10 minutes to play.

A late Nomads rally gave them rewards for their efforts, with Andy Lean and Sean Christian both crossing to give the men in green some succour ahead of their final game against Ramsey in 10 days’ time.

Full report in next week’s Isle of Man Examiner, on sale Tuesday morning.