Both Isle of Man rugby clubs competing in Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire hit the road this weekend.

Vagabonds head to Hoylake, while Ramsey travel further north to face Fleetwood for the first time. Both sides are looking for their first wins, but the table suggests it may not be this week.

Hoylake and Vagabonds have met multiple times previously, with Hoylake enjoying the better record. This season though, they’ve had a real mixed bag of results and are sixth in the table with three wins from five.

Among their results is a 99-0 thrashing away at league leaders Bury, but home advantage should see them at their strongest and they may be just too strong for Vagas.

The Manx side do have some proper warriors in the squad though. Matt Rockwell if cut would probably bleed the club colours and prop Joe Louw was in action on a week off scoring the winner for Western Vikings in the Manx Shield.

If these players and those like them are at their best, Dan Bonwick’s men have a shot at an away win.

Ramsey are currently propping up the table and may be thinking that Fleetwood represent a good chance for points.

The Lancashire outfit have won two from five, but a closer inspection shows they have also picked up three losing bonus points which suggest that they may be a little better than their win rate suggests.

The sides have never met before so there is no previous form to use as a guide.

Ramsey have some youngsters who are learning their craft and improvements are likely as the experience levels build. Dan Kelly has come in at scrum-half and has made the shirt his own.

Ffinlo Corkill has been solid in the forwards and paired up with Josh Kelly for the win against Nomads last week. Their athleticism will make them difficult to play against but not perhaps give their side an away win.

Vagabonds face unbeaten second-place Winnington Park at Ballafletcher in Women’s NC2 North (South) this Saturday.

Vagas sit fifth in the standings but do have a game in hand courtesy of Storm Amy and a win could see them as high as third.

Winnington have won all three of their opening games but when the surface is scratched, it’s clear that their first handful of matches has been against the division’s less dynamic sides and this trip to Vagas will be their first real test.

The Manx side shipped a big score at home to Sale in their first outing but responded well with a big win away at Crewe. This game could see them climb the table a little and move them toward the sharp end.

Freya Crowe is turning into the star of the season and her pace out wide is very difficult to defend against. She can only do what she does with a supply of ball though, and the Vagas’ back certainly generated plenty of that away at Crewe.

Lauren Ellison, Becky Dunne and Leona McGovern have formed a formidable midfield axis too and they’ll certainly put a squeeze on Winnington Park on Saturday.

FIXTURES

Saturday, November 8:

Regional Two North west

Douglas v Vale of Lune @ Port-e-Chee ko 2pm

Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire

Hoylake v Vagabonds @ Hoylake ko 1.30pm

Fleetwood v Ramsey @ Fleetwood ko 1pm

Women’s NC2 North (South)

Vagabonds v Winnington Park @ Ballafletcher ko 2pm

Hartford Homes Manx Shield

Douglas Celts v Western Vikings @ Port-e-Chee ko 1.45pm

DAVE CHRISTIAN