Douglas have secured a promotion play-off spot in Regional Two North West, despite a heavy 50-3 defeat away at champions North Ribblesdale on Saturday.

The Manx side needed three points to guarantee a promotion play-off place but the Settle side were in no mood for compromise.

Douglas started well with a dominant scrum earning a penalty which Nathan Robson converted for a 0-3 lead.

After that though the traffic was one way. Four tries from the champions saw them 24-3 ahead by half-time and in the second half they exploited Douglas gaps as they threw caution to the wind in attack and ran out 50-3 winners.

The defeat meant that Douglas had to hope for a favourable result elsewhere to secure their place in the play-offs and they got it.

Rivals Burnage lost 25-15 away at Sandbach which means that Douglas claimed the division’s fifth and final place in the play-offs.

Play-off fixtures will be confirmed in the very near future.