Douglas Rugby Club retained the Manx Cup with victory over Vagabonds at the weekend.

The game was more David v Goliath than Clash of the Titans, but was nonetheless entertaining, with the former side coming out on top 74-29 at Ballafletcher to retain the title.

They led 43-7 at half-time but didn’t have it all their own way, with Vagas claiming an early lead before succumbing to the pressure.

The scoring started after five minutes of opening skirmishes. Prop Rich Bell found a bit of space and surged into the Vagas half before his offload found Kyle Martin on the right wing and he outpaced the defence to put Douglas ahead.

As the 10-minute mark approached, Vagas’ skipper Dan Bonwick had a kick charged down but the ball was only partially blocked and landed just behind the Douglas backline.

Vagas reacted quickest and ran it up field and, from the following ruck, Matty Jones squeezed over to score. Bonwick added the conversion and Vagas were 7-5 in front.

The unlikely lead was short-lived though. Bell claimed the restart for Douglas and bulldozed his way upfield.

Two phases later, Bell crashed in for the tryline but was stopped short. James Ross was on hand though and he nipped through to score and Nathan Robson added the extras.

The Douglas engine was now purring and they banged in two quick tries before the 20th minute.

Skipper Blake Snell made one and scored one. A big charge set up field position for Mark Oldfield to score before a solo run saw Snell in from around 40 metres. Robson converted one of these and after 20 minutes Douglas led 24-7.

As half-time approached, the Port-e-Chee outfit added three more to build an unassailable lead.

Robson sneaked in from the back of a five-metre line out, Martin’s pace earned him his second of the game and, after Robson had swept up some scrappy line out ball, Harry Hewson went over.

With two more conversions on Robson’s tally, the half-time score stood at 43-7.

Eight minutes into the second half, Oldfield crossed for his second when he peeled of the back of a driving maul and Robson’s conversion brought up the half century.

This spurred Vagas into action and four minutes later they were in for their second. A string of penalties got the within striking distance and from a five-metre line out they showed they could maul too.

As the drive got close to line, Matty Jones dived in for his second of the game.

Douglas weren’t going to be denied and a few minutes later Adam Kinvig raced in under the posts for his first Douglas try. Josh Duncan converted to leave the score at 57-12 with just under 20 minutes to play.

Bell then underlined his fine game with a two-try contribution and replacement scrum half Brendan Kelly also picked one up.

Sandwiched among these scores was a neat first phase try from Vagas. They’d secured lineout ball, Bonwick ran a cross-field line and Cam Findlay hit the line at pace, taking a flat pass and raced 50 metres to score under the posts and add the conversion too.

The size of Douglas’ well-deserved win underlines their current superiority, but Vagas gave them a proper workout as the curtain fell on the 2024-25 season.

Results

Manx Plate final

PDMS Southern Nomads 50-24 IoM Barbarians

Manx Cup final

Douglas 74-19 Vagabonds

DAVE CHRISTIAN