Douglas RUFC travelled to bottom-of-the-table Altrincham Kersal on Saturday needing to resume their early-season form that had seen them lead Regional Two North West.

AK were looking for their first win of the campaign having come up just short six times against higher-ranked sides.

Douglas were without the injured Liam Kirkpatrick, Ethan Kermode and Harry Hewson. Ian Larson came into the back row, with Harry Cartwright retaining his spot at No.8.

In the backline Zac Wickman made his first league start on the wing, Craig Martin moving to full-back in place of twin brother Kyle.

There was a new recruit on the bench, ex-South African under-20 front-rower Sibu Shongwe relishing his first opportunity.

From the off it was easy to see why AK’ve been competitive in so many matches as they hammered away at the Douglas line, testing the resolute defence.

The visitors took time to settle and found it difficult to gain ground despite a superior scrum which could give a stronger attacking platform.

A quick-thinking move down the Douglas blindside led to AK’s opening 13th-minute try from Jacob Rotherham, converted by Shaun Gallimore for 7-0.

Adopting the ‘if you can’t go through, go round’ tactic, Douglas fly-half Matty Wood placed a precise cross-field kick which caught the narrow defence napping.

It fell perfectly to winger Oli Corkish who crashed through one tackle and then fed the supporting Jack Wallis to run in under the posts for 7-7.

Shortly after, Wallis was injured in a tackle and the backline was re-jigged, Nathan Robson moving into the vacant centre spot and Jack’s brother Harri slotting in at scrum-half.

Douglas had a chance to take the lead before the break, but their set piece stuttered as a useful close-range lineout opportunity was missed and AK cleared their lines.

Shongwe came on for the injured Owen Carvin at prop shortly after half-time and Douglas continued to boss the scrum.

They muscled AK back over their own tryline but missed the chance to dot down as AK again scrambled their way out of a defensive hole.

Moments later Craig Martin found himself in space having collected a kick downfield. His chip over the onrushing defence bounced kindly and only a last-ditch tackle from Frans Moncur saved what would have been a sensational score.

The next defender on the scene was given a 53rd-minute yellow card for killing the ball as Douglas looked to play quickly from the breakdown, and Wood slotted the penalty to take his side into a 7-10 lead.

AK fought back again and got themselves ahead by capitalising on ill-discipline from Douglas, kicking a late tackle penalty to touch. From the resulting lineout captain Andrew Dauncey crashed over for 12-10.

Blake Everson came off the bench for John Dutnall as Douglas pushed to regain the lead and another powerful five-metre scrum set them away, Wallis feeding Wickman.

The winger rode the tackle before dotting down in the corner and Wood’s superb touchline conversion put Douglas 12-17 ahead with five minutes remaining.

Another penalty cost Douglas dearly. Having stolen a lineout and cleared downfield, they were called back to their own 22m for an offside infringement.

AK sent the ball into the corner looking for the catch-and-drive try, then went through phases from close range.

Douglas held firm, but a snipe through midfield and a quick offload from AK’s scrum-half Tom Holloway gave Andy Braithwaite the chance to burrow beneath the tackles.

Gallimore kicked the conversion for 19-17, but Douglas had one minute remaining. AK secured the restart and closed out most of the final moments, aided by a Douglas knock-on when possession was retrieved.