Two friendly rugby matches were held on Saturday to remember James Clarke and Chris Fryer who sadly passed away earlier this year.

At Vagabonds RUFC’s Ballafletcher ground a Vagabonds XV was defeated 19-26 by a Clarkey XV.

Jon Reilly and Cam Findlay were on target for Vagabonds, but the impressive line-up in the opposing side simply proved too strong, with Tom Gascoyne, Jimmy Cubbon, Steve Gawne, Ross McCulloch and Andre Pretorius all weighing in at the other end to give Clarkey another win.

At the QEII School pitch in Peel a hefty crowd saw Western Vikings beat a Castletown Barbarians side 42-31 in honour of Chris Fryer.

Craig Martin put Vikings in front after quarter of an hour, but at the end of the first 20-minute period Alex Gibson hit back for the Barbarians to level the score at seven apiece.

In the second period Vikings accelerated away with two tries from Peter Crowe, one from Danny Howard and one from Chris Fryer’s sister Alicia - who was participating on a non-contact basis and also kicked three conversions.

Barbarians chipped away at the other end and by the end of the third period they’d pulled back to within nine points of Vikings. Two tries apiece from Jack Goodwin and Chris Fryer’s friend Craig Cregeen helped reduce the deficit, with the latter also participating on a non-contact basis.

More importantly, the post-match fund raising at The Creek in aid of Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation yielded more than £5,000. Young Ms Fryer showed interest in the sport and may well be appearing with Vagabonds women’s side in the near future.

Results - Friendlies

Chris Fryer Memorial

Western Vikings 42Castletown Barbarians 31

James Clarke Memorial

Vagabonds XV 19Clarkey XV 26

DAVE CHRISTIAN