It took a stoppage-time penalty try for Douglas to claim maximum points against Regional Two North West new boys North Ribblesdale on Saturday, but with five points safely in the bag the Manx side won’t mind that.

Despite the visitors enjoying early territorial advantage, it was the weekend’s hosts at Port-e-Chee who opened the scoring.

Impressive carries from front-row pair Conor Garland and Josh Campbell took Douglas deep into the opposition 22.

Summer signing Matty Woods stepped up to the plate to finish proceedings with a powerful run from close range and he converted his own try for a 7-0 lead.

Ribb hit back 10 minutes later. They were awarded an eminently kickable penalty but opted to scrummage instead. The gamble paid off.

Ed Bradley launched from number eight and angled toward the right touchline. He drew the defence and offloaded to wing Jack Hutchinson who slipped his marker and scored wide on the right.

Tom Davidson added the extras and the game was tied at 7-7.

Ribb continued to dominate territory for the remainder of the half but the Douglas defence held firm and when the teams turned around the game remained deadlocked at 7-7.

Douglas seized the initiative early in the second half.

The forwards pounded the Ribb line in the opening few minutes before finally releasing the backline.

A long floated pass found wing Ollie Corkish in space and he finished neatly to put Douglas 12-7 ahead.

Just after the hour the lead was extended further. Again Douglas squeezed Ribb with forward pressure but this time they kept the ball tight and Blake Snell dived in from close range. Nathan Robson added the conversion and Douglas were 19-7 in front and looking comfortable.

The comfort was, however, short lived.

Douglas coughed up a penalty from the restart and Tom Davidson fired it through the uprights from almost 40 metres out.

Five minutes later and it was try time for the Settle side. They worked the ball up field and probed the Douglas line from close range with Ed Bradley burrowing through a pile of bodies to get the score and leave the Douglas lead at 19-15.

With four minutes remaining a Douglas clearance was fielded by Ribb fullback Freddie Spensley.

He beat the Douglas chaser and raced down the left wing unmolested. As he drew the Douglas cover he offloaded inside to scrum-half Hennie Jansen van Rensburg who finished under the sticks. Davidson added the extras and Ribb were in the lead 22-19.

Right on full-time though, the visitors conceded a penalty.

Douglas kicked for the corner and set up for a lineout drive. Ribb pulled it down and the process was repeated and repeated and repeated.

Finally the referee ran out of patience and he awarded a penalty try to Douglas which gave them the win.

The Manx squad have a few things to work on going forwards but they’ll be doing it with five points securely in the bag ahead of Saturday’s first away test of the season at Sandbach.

Results: Saturday, September 6

Regional Two North West

Douglas 26-22 North Ribblesdale

Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire

Congleton 33-20 Ramsey

Burnley 24-0 Vagabonds

DAVE CHRISTIAN